Reliable wireless communication for fire detection systems in commercial and residential areas

The integration of wireless devices in hazard detection systems especially in fire detection systems lead to the possibility to extend beyond buildings without external wiring on existing surfaces and to save enormous networking costs as well as to reduce business lost due to installation of detectors. The wireless communication in fire detection applications needs to satisfy various different requirements with regard to alarm or disturbance transmission duration as well as interference handling, interruption handling, collision detection and handling. This paper presents the technical realization of the hybrid radio smoke detection system SIGMASPACE as well as a new transmission procedure that allows the deployment of pure wireless systems with regard to high ranges and low battery power consumption. The wireless communication is performed in an exclusive frequency band for short-range devices by 868 MHz with regulated effective radiated powers and transmission duration (duty cycle). Depending on the target markets the bandwidth of the used transceivers varies between 25 kHz for SIGMASPACE and 100-300 kHz for the second system intended for the residential market. Furthermore, the paper discusses parameters that can influence the radio transmission within building in order to reach a reliable and creditable transmission.