Smart building technology has been slowly, yet steadily, advancing with connections to 5G wireless for at least two years, but electronics industry leaders still see a need to push for development of more intelligent in-building smart devices.

Innovations underway include use of 5G private networks, experimental Citizens Band Radio Service licenses and connections to cloud systems.

Of course, not every part of a smart building system will depend entirely on a fast wireless network, which is why Siemens and Qualcomm announced a collaboration on Wednesday based on a proof-of-concept network architecture at Siemensā€™ Buffalo Grove, Illinois, offices.  There, a 5G private network is being tested for efficient connections to heating, ventilation and air conditioning components.  The effort ā€œaims to further advance digitization in building automation by developing new, more intelligent smart devices in the future,ā€ Qualcomm said in a statement.

The current state of smart building innovations relying on fast, low latency wireless is variable around the globe, said Monica Paolini, an analyst at Senza Fili. ā€œWireless-enabled building automation is growing, especially in China, but also in Europe,ā€ Paolini said. ā€œThe US is a bit behind, despite CBRS.ā€

Telefonica recently described for analysts multiple commercial enterprise applications of 5G used for building automation. Paolini said such examples are emerging ā€œmore slowly than expected, but we are making progress.ā€

The global smart buildings market is expected to grow to $121 billion in 2026, up from $73 billion in 2021, reflecting annual growth of 11% , according to research firm Markets and Markets.  A big factor in that growth is 5G.

The  Siemens offices in the Chicago suburb evidently have required some retrofitting of older HVAC components. ā€œItā€™s harder to make everything smart if you canā€™t get components connected,ā€ said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. ā€œThe payback is pretty high over the life of the building.ā€  When constructing a new building, ā€œmaking everything smart is the right thing to do and fairly easy to accomplish.ā€

Siemens is already a major player in the smart building market and sees advantages in working with Qualcomm. ā€œIt makes sense for them to offer a 5G private network option as a way to outfit brown field solutions for customers rather than trying to pull wireless through potentially huge infrastructure for existing mega buildings,ā€ Gold said.

Qualcomm, meanwhile, ā€œarguably makes the best 5G modems out there, so it makes sense for Qualcomm and Siemens to cooperate,ā€ he added. ā€œIf the market demand takes off, Qualcomm could sell a lot of 5G modemsā€ since many large buildings might need hundreds such modems.

Qualcomm is using its Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System in the Siemens proof of concept. The Siemens and Qualcomm engineers have worked together ā€œto successfully prove the automated building use case,ā€ said Sebastiano De Filippo, senior director for business development at Qualcomm Europe.

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