Threshold Corp. (Petaluma, Calif.) said its One-Net provides greater range, better security and a more open environment than competing schemes such as Insteon and ZigBee.

Threshold chief executive officer James Martin said engineers can build a One-Net node for $2 to $3 using off-the-shelf transceivers for the 868- or 915-MHz bands. The network can deliver 38.4 to 230.4 kbits/second over 100 meters indoors.

The company started work on One-Net about a year ago, after it determined Insteon and ZigBee would not meet the needs for its access points and home automation peripherals, set to ship before May. "We needed something with lower latency, longer battery life and more range," said Martin.

Cost was also a factor for the small company, which didn't want to pay several thousand dollars for a developer's kit or to join a competing networking association.

The Threshold software works with seven transceivers from six vendors (Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, Semtech, RF Monolithics, Micrel and Integration Associates). The software defines everything from modulation schemes to messaging protocols.

One-Net uses the Extended Tiny Encryption Algorithm with 32 iterations (XTEA-32). Security is always on in the approach because One-Net uses the algorithm to configure and run the network.

Threshold plans to build several home automation peripherals for One-Net, including door and window sensors, motion and moisture detectors and a camera. One other company will make outlets and switches for One-Net, Martin said.