The Wavecom (News - Alert) Group has announced that the WMP120 Wireless Microprocessor, the ATEX-approved GSM/GPRS solution for wireless machine-to-machine communication, is now available.

 

This will help reduce time to market for developers and integrators of smart metering solutions and other devices, in explosive environments.

 

ATEX (ATmosphere EXplosive) is the European Directive for certifying products for use in environments where there is risk of explosions from exposure to volatile chemicals, liquids or gases. The WMP120 is certified for ATEX equipment category 1 and 3, allowing in zone 0, 1 and 2.

 

Wavecom customers can take advantage of scalability and cost with the WMP120. The same GSM/GPRS platform can be used for gas meters as well as metering gateways, on a single software architecture. A WMP120 can be added to an existing sensor part and used as a GSM/GPRS data logger on the meter. On the gateway, a 100 percent software and hardware compatible WMP100, manage network technologies like ZigBee, proprietary RF or PLC, as well as GSM/GPRS communication.

 

With WMP120, Wavecom customers are able to speed the certification process for the final product. The main component of a GSM/GPRS-enabled meter is ATEX certified and in-depth ATEX design analysis of the GSM/GPRS part is not required.

 

Philippe Guillemette, CTO and VP of marketing, Wavecom, commented, “ATEX certification is another Wavecom innovation which will facilitate the creation and introduction of new products and business processes, and we are confident that those of our customers which produce wireless-enabled equipment for hazardous environments will be eager to adopt the WMP120.”

 

Claude Yonnet, CEO of technology, Wavecom, said, “We are continually looking for new ways to improve our product designs. The availability of the GSM engine with ATEX component approval presents a number of potential benefits. In particular, the design process and ATEX certification of our gas AMR products should become more efficient.”

 

“ATEX is not only about product certification, but also about the quality processes applied across the organization. Wavecom has an excellent quality approach, and we are happy to deliver the ATEX Quality Notification certificate which will make ATEX certification quicker and easier for Wavecom’s customers,” stated Emmanuel Van Dillen, ATEX auditor of the Notified Body LCIE Bureau Veritas (News - Alert).

 

WMP120 allows ATEX certification with all the benefits of the high running WMP100 Wireless Microprocessor. It can work like a modem, as a shared processor with a host CPU, or as a standalone CPU.

 

WMP100 and WMP150 (automotive version) are already in use in automotive and smart metering, security, asset tracking, wireless local loop and more.

 

Wavecom is a provider of embedded wireless technology for M2M (machine-to-machine) communication and provides GSM/GPRS, CDMA, EDGE, 3G Wireless CPUs, and programmable processors. The company is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France and has subsidiaries in Hong Kong (PRC), Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (USA), Farnborough (UK), Munich (Germany) and Sao Paolo (Brazil).