What is ANT and how does it differ from ANT+?

ANT is an ultra-low-power 2.4 GHz radio protocol. According to the Garmin ANT FAQ it uses GFSK modulation with 1 MHz channels and a scheduled, time-aligned model in which channel events occur at fixed intervals. ANT+ is a set of device profiles (heart rate, bike speed and cadence, and others) that define what the data sent over ANT means, so that products from different brands interoperate. A product can use ANT without ANT+, but then it may not use the ANT+ network key or the ANT+ frequency (2457 MHz).

Does ANT+ certification still exist?

No. The Garmin FAQ states that the ANT+ Adopter Agreement was updated on January 3, 2024 to remove ANT+ Certification as a requirement, and that the ANT+ membership and product certification programmes, with their engineering support, ended on June 30, 2025. An Adopter may reference ANT+ and use its logos if it has accepted the Adopter Agreement and the product meets the minimum interoperability requirements in the ANT+ documents. ANT licensing and manufacturer IDs are unaffected, and radio approval (FCC, RED and others) is still required.

Do ANT products pay a royalty?

It depends on the silicon. Garmin states that the embedded ANT protocol on devices such as Nordic nRF24AP2 and TI CC257x needs no licence, while ANT stacks and SoftDevices for Nordic SoCs are licensed by Garmin, free for evaluation and with a per-instance royalty for revenue-generating use. Manufacturer IDs are assigned on request at no additional fee.

Which frequencies does KNX RF use?

KNX RF works in the 868 MHz SRD band. EN 50090-5-3:2016 defines KNX RF Ready, a single-channel system, and KNX RF Multi, which adds two fast channels and two slow channels. Manufacturer documentation gives the centre frequencies as 868.3 MHz (Ready and F1), 868.95 MHz (F2), 869.85 MHz (SLE1) and 869.525 MHz (SLE2). There is no 2.4 GHz KNX RF variant. In the EU each channel sits in a different band of Decision 2006/771/EC, with its own power and duty cycle limits.

What is DECT ULE and which specifications define it?

ULE (Ultra Low Energy) is the DECT extension for battery-powered sensors and actuators. The DECT Forum says the ULE physical layer is identical to the DECT physical layer and the upper layers were adapted in ETSI TC DECT. The ETSI specifications are TS 102 939-1 (phase 1, V1.3.1 of October 2017) and TS 102 939-2 (phase 2, V1.4.1 of May 2024). HAN-FUN is the application protocol, first released in November 2013. TS 102 527 is the New Generation DECT (CAT-iq) series, not a ULE audio specification.

Can one DECT ULE radio serve both the EU and the US?

Only if it is designed for both bands. The EU DECT band is 1880 to 1900 MHz and the US band is 1920 to 1930 MHz under 47 CFR Part 15 Subpart D, where section 15.323 requires operation to be contained in 1920 to 1930 MHz, an emission bandwidth under 2.5 MHz and listen before talk monitoring. The bands do not overlap, so each variant needs its own approval: RED with EN 301 406 in the EU, an FCC ID in the US.

Is 6LoWPAN a certified protocol?

No. 6LoWPAN is an IETF adaptation layer that carries IPv6 over IEEE 802.15.4: RFC 4944 (2007), RFC 6282 header compression (2011) and RFC 6775 neighbour discovery (2012), since updated by RFC 8025, 8066, 8505 and 8931 among others. No body grants a 6LoWPAN logo. Interoperability labels come from ecosystems built on it, such as Thread and Wi-SUN FAN, and the radio still needs its national approval.

Which mistakes recur on these four technologies?

Treating ANT as a frequency hopping radio (Garmin describes fixed 1 MHz channels, with frequency agility only on certain chipsets). Planning an ANT+ certification that no longer exists. Looking for a 2.4 GHz KNX RF variant. Citing EN 300 444 as a CTM profile (it is the Generic Access Profile). Assuming EU DECT hardware works in the US. Listing 6LoWPAN as a certification.

Niche wireless: ANT+, KNX RF, DECT ULE, 6LoWPAN

Hugues Orgitello updated 7 Oct 2026 12 min read

Four wireless technologies keep turning up in sport, building and home products without having a large certification industry around them: ANT and ANT+, KNX RF, DECT ULE and 6LoWPAN. Each has an owner that controls a label (Garmin, KNX Association, the DECT Forum) or none at all (6LoWPAN is an IETF layer), and none of those labels replaces radio approval under the RED 2014/53/EU in the EU or 47 CFR Part 15 in the US. Two things changed recently: ANT+ certification is gone (removed as a requirement on January 3, 2024, programmes closed on June 30, 2025), and ETSI published TS 102 939-2 V1.4.1 for DECT ULE in May 2024 and EN 301 406-1 V3.2.1 in August 2026. This page reads each owner text as of October 7, 2026 and maps every technology to the radio rule its band falls under.

At a glance

Technology	Band	Who owns the label	Label today	EU radio reference	US rule
ANT / ANT+	2.4 GHz, 1 MHz GFSK channels (ANT+ at 2457 MHz)	Garmin Canada Inc.	No certification since 2025; logo use under the ANT+ Adopter Agreement	EN 300 328 V2.2.2	FCC Part 15.247 or 15.249
KNX RF	868 to 870 MHz SRD channels	KNX Association	KNX product registration (see the KNX guide)	EN 300 220-2	Not a US technology at 868 MHz
DECT ULE	1880 to 1900 MHz (EU), 1920 to 1930 MHz (US)	DECT Forum	DECT Forum programmes (CAT-iq, Security, NR+ planned)	EN 301 406 V2.2.2	Part 15 Subpart D (15.323)
6LoWPAN	Inherits IEEE 802.15.4 (2.4 GHz or sub-GHz)	IETF (no label)	None; labels come from Thread or Wi-SUN	EN 300 328 or EN 300 220-2 by band	15.247 or 15.249 by design

The EU references are those listed in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2191 as consolidated on December 11, 2025: EN 300 328 V2.2.2, EN 301 406 V2.2.2, and for EN 300 220-2 both V3.1.1 and V3.3.1 (V3.3.1 added by Decision (EU) 2025/2499; V3.1.1 is withdrawn from the list on June 11, 2027, see the license-free SRD bands guide).

ANT and ANT+

What the radio is

Garmin describes ANT as an ultra-low-power 2.4 GHz protocol that supports flexible topologies including mesh. Its FAQ gives the radio facts that matter for a test plan:

Parameter	What Garmin states
Modulation and channels	GFSK, 1 MHz channels in the 2.4 GHz ISM band
Access model	Scheduled, time-aligned channel events at defined intervals; an adaptive isochronous mechanism shifts transmission timing to avoid interference
Over-the-air bit rate	1 Mbit/s while transmitting or receiving
Message rates	Generally 0.5 Hz to 200 Hz with 8-byte payloads; burst mode 20 to 60 kbit/s depending on the chip
Range	Modules generally designed for 30 m line of sight
Channels	Typically up to 15 per device
Frequency hopping	Not by default: "certain ANT chipsets have built-in frequency agility", or it can be done at application level
ANT+ frequency	2457 MHz, reserved with the ANT+ network key for products that implement an ANT+ device profile
Chip vendors	Publicly announced ANT solutions come from Nordic Semiconductor and Texas Instruments

So an ANT product is normally a fixed-channel digital radio, not a FHSS system. In the US the grant is under 47 CFR 15.249 (fundamental field strength 50 mV/m at 3 m in 2400 to 2483.5 MHz) or under 15.247 when the design qualifies as a digitally modulated system (minimum 6 dB bandwidth of 500 kHz). The hopping rules of 15.247(a)(1), with their channel counts and dwell time limits, apply only if the product actually hops. In the EU the 2.4 GHz reference is EN 300 328. The FAQ adds that a product built on an RF-certified ANT module still has to go through regulatory testing itself.

ANT+ certification: what ended and when

Date	Event (Garmin ANT FAQ)
January 3, 2024	ANT+ Adopter Agreement updated to remove ANT+ Certification as a requirement; ANT+ Product Certification no longer offered
January 3, 2025	Start date given for referencing ANT+ and using the ANT+ logos without certification, on two conditions: the Adopter Agreement is accepted, and the product meets the minimum interoperability requirements of the ANT+ documents (or has a written exception from Garmin Canada Inc.)
June 30, 2025	ANT+ membership programme, product certification programmes and associated engineering support ended
Today	ANT+ device profiles and tools remain available under the Adopter Agreement; existing products are not affected; ANT licensing and manufacturer IDs are unaffected

What remains is a self-managed obligation: the manufacturer checks its own product against the ANT+ device profile, using Garmin documentation and design tools, before using the logo.

ANT licensing and IDs

Item	Rule (Garmin licensing page and FAQ)
Embedded ANT on single-chip parts such as nRF24AP2 and CC257x	No licence needed
ANT stacks and SoftDevices on Nordic SoCs (nRF52, nRF53, nRF Connect SDK)	Licensed by Garmin: free for evaluation, per-instance royalty for revenue-generating use, usage reporting
Manufacturer ID	Assigned on request at no additional fee; development ID 255 may be used in released products, with limits
Non-ANT+ product	May not use the ANT+ network key or 2457 MHz; may use any other frequency with the public or a private key

KNX RF

KNX RF carries KNX telegrams over radio in the 868 MHz band, according to KNX Association. Its physical and data link layers are standardised in EN 50090-5-3 (current edition 2016, published in Germany as DIN EN 50090-5-3:2016-10). That edition defines two variants: KNX RF Ready, a single-channel system, and KNX RF Multi, which adds two fast channels for human-operated functions (lighting, shutters) and two slow channels for battery sensors and heating, with listen before talk.

The channel plan below combines the frequencies from Gira system documentation (a manufacturer document, status September 1, 2025) with the band they fall into under Decision 2006/771/EC as consolidated on January 23, 2025:

KNX RF channel	Centre frequency	Band range	Decision 2006/771 band	EU limit for that band
Ready / Multi F1	868.3 MHz	868.0 to 868.6 MHz	48	25 mW e.r.p.; access techniques or duty cycle 1 % or less
Multi F2	868.95 MHz	868.7 to 869.2 MHz	50	25 mW e.r.p.; access techniques or duty cycle 0.1 % or less
Multi SLE2	869.525 MHz	869.4 to 869.65 MHz	54	500 mW e.r.p.; access techniques or duty cycle 10 % or less
Multi SLE1	869.85 MHz	869.7 to 870 MHz	56a / 56b	5 mW e.r.p. without restriction, or 25 mW e.r.p. with access techniques or duty cycle 1 % or less

The Gira document gives the transmit power of KNX RF devices as 0.5 to 25 mW. The practical point for a test plan: a KNX RF Multi device that switches between channels has to meet a different Decision 2006/771 row on each one, and the EN 300 220-2 test report has to cover each channel used.

KNX product registration, who may register and how KNX Secure fits are covered in the KNX, DALI-2 and EnOcean guide. That guide also notes that the KNX registration does not assess RED Article 3(2): the radio file is separate.

DECT ULE

Specifications

Document	What it is	Current version
ETSI EN 300 175 series	DECT Common Interface (physical layer to network layer)	Part 1 V2.9.1 (2022-03)
ETSI EN 300 444	DECT Generic Access Profile (GAP), the base voice interoperability profile	V2.5.1 (2017-10)
ETSI TS 102 939-1	ULE Machine to Machine Communications, Home Automation Network (phase 1)	V1.3.1 (2017-10)
ETSI TS 102 939-2	ULE Home Automation Network (phase 2)	V1.4.1 (2024-05)
HAN-FUN	Application protocol defining device profiles, developed by the ULE Alliance	First version November 2013 (DECT Forum)
ETSI EN 301 406	Harmonised Standard for DECT radio spectrum access	V2.2.2 cited in Decision 2022/2191; ETSI published EN 301 406-1 V3.2.1 (Part 1: DECT, DECT Evolution and DECT ULE) in August 2026

The DECT Forum describes ULE as announced in January 2011, with a physical layer identical to DECT and upper layers (data link control, network layer, interworking unit) adapted in ETSI TC DECT. It names 128-bit AES encryption, a star topology around a base, and simultaneous data and voice. On range it states "over 50 meters in buildings and up to 300 meters in the open air". A home gateway that already has DECT can become ULE-enabled by software upgrade.

Certification today

The ULE Alliance was set up on the initiative of the DECT Forum to promote ULE and ran its certification. On October 7, 2026 the DECT Forum certification page lists three programmes: DECT NR+ (planned for launch in late 2026, initially aimed at building automation), DECT Security, and CAT-iq. Its process: members have products tested at partner test houses, the test house informs the Forum, the member pays a fee and the product is listed. No standalone ULE certification programme appears on that page; ask the Forum which CAT-iq or other programme covers a given ULE product before planning one. The DECT Forum certification guide covers CAT-iq levels and the NR+ citation in detail.

Radio approval by region

Region	Band	Rule
EU	1880 to 1900 MHz	RED Article 3(2) with EN 301 406; EMC under Article 3(1)(b) with the EN 301 489 series; EN 18031 for internet-connected bases and hubs since August 1, 2025
US	1920 to 1930 MHz (DECT 6.0)	47 CFR Part 15 Subpart D; 15.323: operation contained in 1920 to 1930 MHz, emission bandwidth under 2.5 MHz and at least 50 kHz, monitoring of the time and spectrum window before transmitting; FCC ID through a TCB

The two bands do not overlap. A product for both markets needs a radio that covers both and two approvals; other countries use other DECT bands (see the DECT Forum guide).

6LoWPAN

The RFC set, with its updates

6LoWPAN is an adaptation layer, not a stack: it lets IPv6 run over IEEE 802.15.4 frames. RFC 4944 gives the constraint it solves: a physical layer packet of 127 octets leaves 102 octets at the MAC layer, and as few as 81 with link-layer security, while IPv6 needs an MTU of 1280 octets.

RFC	Date	Content	Relation
RFC 4944	September 2007	IPv6 over IEEE 802.15.4: fragmentation, addressing, mesh header	Updated by 6282, 6775, 8025, 8066, 8931
RFC 6282	September 2011	LOWPAN_IPHC and LOWPAN_NHC header compression	Replaces section 10 of RFC 4944 (HC1/HC2), whose implementation is now NOT RECOMMENDED
RFC 6775	November 2012	Neighbour discovery optimisation for 6LoWPANs	Updated by 8505, 8929, 9010
RFC 8025	November 2016	Paging dispatch	Updates 4944
RFC 8066	February 2017	ESC dispatch code points and guidelines	Updates 4944 and 6282
RFC 8505	November 2018	Registration extensions for 6LoWPAN neighbour discovery	Updates 6775; itself updated by 8928, 8929, 9010, 9685 (November 2024) and 9926 (February 2026)
RFC 8931	November 2020	Selective fragment recovery	Updates 4944

All are Proposed Standards. A 6LoWPAN implementation described only as "RFC 4944, 6282, 6775" is therefore describing the 2012 state of the layer.

Where certification comes from

No organisation certifies 6LoWPAN as such. Labels come from ecosystems that use it:

Ecosystem	Use of 6LoWPAN	Label
Thread	The Thread Group describes "its 6LowPAN foundation" on IEEE 802.15.4	Thread Group certification (Thread guide)
Wi-SUN FAN	6LoWPAN adaptation and header compression over the 802.15.4 SUN PHY, frequency hopping, RPL routing	Wi-SUN CERTIFIED (Wi-SUN guide); FAN 1.0 is public as IEEE 2857-2021
Own stack	6LoWPAN with a proprietary upper layer	None; radio approval only

The radio approval depends on the band: EN 300 328 at 2.4 GHz or EN 300 220-2 in the 863 to 870 MHz SRD bands in the EU; 47 CFR 15.247 or 15.249 in the US.

Claims the texts contradict

Claim (seen in circulation, including on earlier versions of this page)	What the source says
"ANT is a frequency hopping (FHSS) radio, so the FCC filing must declare dwell time"	Garmin: GFSK with 1 MHz channels and scheduled channel events; frequency agility only on certain chipsets or at application level. Hopping rules apply only to products that hop
"ANT+ certification ran until June 30, 2025 through self-declaration"	The Adopter Agreement dropped certification as a requirement on January 3, 2024; June 30, 2025 is when the membership and certification programmes and engineering support ended
"ANT has no royalty"	Embedded ANT on nRF24AP2 or CC257x needs no licence, but ANT stacks on Nordic SoCs carry a per-instance royalty for revenue-generating use
"KNX RF has a 2.4 GHz multi-band variant"	EN 50090-5-3:2016 defines RF Ready (one channel) and RF Multi (two fast and two slow channels), all in 868 to 870 MHz
"EN 300 444 is DECT Cordless Terminal Mobility (CTM)"	EN 300 444 is the Generic Access Profile (GAP), V2.5.1 of October 2017
"ETSI TS 102 527 is the ULE low-bitrate audio option"	TS 102 527 is the New Generation DECT series used by CAT-iq; ULE is TS 102 939-1 and -2
"The ULE Certified mark is renewed whenever ETSI revises the standards"	No such rule appears on the DECT Forum pages; its certification page lists NR+, Security and CAT-iq
"DECT ULE reaches 50 to 100 m indoors against 10 to 30 m for BLE"	The DECT Forum states over 50 m in buildings and up to 300 m in open air; it gives no BLE comparison
"6LoWPAN is RFC 4944, 6282 and 6775"	Those are the 2007 to 2012 base; RFC 8025, 8066, 8505 and 8931 update them, and RFC 6282 makes the RFC 4944 HC1/HC2 compression NOT RECOMMENDED

Checklist before radio testing

ANT: confirm whether the firmware uses a fixed channel or chipset frequency agility, and pick 15.249 or 15.247 accordingly; check the ANT stack licence for Nordic SoCs; do not plan an ANT+ certification step.
KNX RF: list the channels the product uses (Ready, F1, F2, SLE1, SLE2) and make sure the EN 300 220-2 report covers each with its Decision 2006/771 limit.
DECT ULE: decide EU band, US band or both; confirm with the DECT Forum which programme applies; add EN 18031 if the base or hub reaches the internet.
6LoWPAN: name the ecosystem label (Thread, Wi-SUN) or state that there is none; state the RFC set including updates.
All four: the radio approval is tied to the tested antenna and hardware, and a module approval does not exempt the end product from its own testing.

What this guide does not cover

Bluetooth LE: see Bluetooth SIG qualification.
Thread: see Thread Group certification.
Matter: see Matter certification.
LoRaWAN: see LoRa Alliance LoRaWAN certification.
UWB: see UWB and the FiRa Consortium.
BLE as an alternative to ANT+ or ULE: BLE is covered by the Bluetooth SIG guide; ETSI harmonised standards for each band are in the RED pages.

Going further

Building automation: KNX, DALI-2 and EnOcean certification: KNX registration and the RED overlap
DECT Forum certification: CAT-iq levels, NR+ and DECT bands by country
License-free SRD bands: Decision 2006/771 rows and FCC 15.247/15.249 limits
Bluetooth SIG qualification: the comparison point for BLE-based alternatives to ANT+
Thread Group certification: the main 2.4 GHz ecosystem built on 6LoWPAN
Matter certification: the application layer above Thread and Wi-Fi
RED 2014/53/EU: EU radio framework applicable to all four technologies
FCC: US framework, Part 15 Subpart C for 2.4 GHz and 902 to 928 MHz, Subpart D for DECT 6.0
Glossary: definitions of the terms used on this page

Frequently asked questions

What is ANT and how does it differ from ANT+?: ANT is an ultra-low-power 2.4 GHz radio protocol. According to the Garmin ANT FAQ it uses GFSK modulation with 1 MHz channels and a scheduled, time-aligned model in which channel events occur at fixed intervals. ANT+ is a set of device profiles (heart rate, bike speed and cadence, and others) that define what the data sent over ANT means, so that products from different brands interoperate. A product can use ANT without ANT+, but then it may not use the ANT+ network key or the ANT+ frequency (2457 MHz).
Does ANT+ certification still exist?: No. The Garmin FAQ states that the ANT+ Adopter Agreement was updated on January 3, 2024 to remove ANT+ Certification as a requirement, and that the ANT+ membership and product certification programmes, with their engineering support, ended on June 30, 2025. An Adopter may reference ANT+ and use its logos if it has accepted the Adopter Agreement and the product meets the minimum interoperability requirements in the ANT+ documents. ANT licensing and manufacturer IDs are unaffected, and radio approval (FCC, RED and others) is still required.
Do ANT products pay a royalty?: It depends on the silicon. Garmin states that the embedded ANT protocol on devices such as Nordic nRF24AP2 and TI CC257x needs no licence, while ANT stacks and SoftDevices for Nordic SoCs are licensed by Garmin, free for evaluation and with a per-instance royalty for revenue-generating use. Manufacturer IDs are assigned on request at no additional fee.
Which frequencies does KNX RF use?: KNX RF works in the 868 MHz SRD band. EN 50090-5-3:2016 defines KNX RF Ready, a single-channel system, and KNX RF Multi, which adds two fast channels and two slow channels. Manufacturer documentation gives the centre frequencies as 868.3 MHz (Ready and F1), 868.95 MHz (F2), 869.85 MHz (SLE1) and 869.525 MHz (SLE2). There is no 2.4 GHz KNX RF variant. In the EU each channel sits in a different band of Decision 2006/771/EC, with its own power and duty cycle limits.
What is DECT ULE and which specifications define it?: ULE (Ultra Low Energy) is the DECT extension for battery-powered sensors and actuators. The DECT Forum says the ULE physical layer is identical to the DECT physical layer and the upper layers were adapted in ETSI TC DECT. The ETSI specifications are TS 102 939-1 (phase 1, V1.3.1 of October 2017) and TS 102 939-2 (phase 2, V1.4.1 of May 2024). HAN-FUN is the application protocol, first released in November 2013. TS 102 527 is the New Generation DECT (CAT-iq) series, not a ULE audio specification.
Can one DECT ULE radio serve both the EU and the US?: Only if it is designed for both bands. The EU DECT band is 1880 to 1900 MHz and the US band is 1920 to 1930 MHz under 47 CFR Part 15 Subpart D, where section 15.323 requires operation to be contained in 1920 to 1930 MHz, an emission bandwidth under 2.5 MHz and listen before talk monitoring. The bands do not overlap, so each variant needs its own approval: RED with EN 301 406 in the EU, an FCC ID in the US.
Is 6LoWPAN a certified protocol?: No. 6LoWPAN is an IETF adaptation layer that carries IPv6 over IEEE 802.15.4: RFC 4944 (2007), RFC 6282 header compression (2011) and RFC 6775 neighbour discovery (2012), since updated by RFC 8025, 8066, 8505 and 8931 among others. No body grants a 6LoWPAN logo. Interoperability labels come from ecosystems built on it, such as Thread and Wi-SUN FAN, and the radio still needs its national approval.
Which mistakes recur on these four technologies?: Treating ANT as a frequency hopping radio (Garmin describes fixed 1 MHz channels, with frequency agility only on certain chipsets). Planning an ANT+ certification that no longer exists. Looking for a 2.4 GHz KNX RF variant. Citing EN 300 444 as a CTM profile (it is the Generic Access Profile). Assuming EU DECT hardware works in the US. Listing 6LoWPAN as a certification.