Sigfox Certification

To achieve Sigfox certifications, you must test your product and apply through Build. The documentation and compliance documents to provide are listed in the online tool and in the Sigfox Certification handbook.

The Sigfox Ready certification is mandatory for any device to be connected to Sigfox network. 

The intermediate Sigfox Verified certification acknowledges the compliance of a Modular Design with Sigfox RF & protocol specifications.

Any product applying for certification must show compliance to Sigfox Certification specifications from a valid certification baseline (CBL). 

There are two kinds of tests that may be required to apply for Sigfox certifications:

• RF & protocol tests, to check Sigfox protocol & RF performance compliance. 
• Radiated performance tests, to assess the radiated performances of the device. These radiation tests will define a radiated power classification of the device in uplink mode. 

These tests are performed by Sigfox accredited Test houses, which are well-known laboratories across the world.

To help you be prepared for these tests, we have 2 documents "Be prepared" available.

Sigfox had also developed the SDR Dongle and RSA software to help makers prepare for their Sigfox RF & Protocol tests.   

     Certification Baseline documents                                                        CBL June 2020

• Be prepared for Sigfox Radiated performance Tests                                    1.0.1
• Be prepared for Sigfox RF & Protocol Tests                                                  5.0.2
• Sigfox Radiated Performance Test Specification                                          2.0.4
• Sigfox RF & Protocol Test Specification                                                        5.0.3
• Sigfox RF & Protocol Test Procedure                                                            5.0.0

Both Sigfox Verified and Sigfox Ready certifications follow the same overall process.

Sigfox certification step by step:

1. Plan testing: Plan your Sigfox certification, and request a quotation from a Sigfox accredited test house.

2. Prepare product for testing: Make sure your product is ready to start testing, following the Be prepared certification documents according to your certification request.

3. Ship candidate product to the Test House:

            a. The accredited Test House will execute tests according to the Sigfox Radiated Performance test specification and the Sigfox RF & Protocol test specifications for each requested RC (if you apply for RC1 and RC7, only one radiated performance test is necessary).

            b. The accredited Test House will generate a report and will deliver it to you.

            c. Once you have received the test report, prepare the submission file on Build.

4. In the meantime, start your certification on Sigfox Build:

           a. Create a product and complete the product's information.

           b. Sign the Sigfox Master License Agreement. You only need to sign one per company.

           c. Once you have received the test house report, upload it on Build, along with all required documentation.

           d. Pay the certification fee on Build.

5. Submit the certification request on Sigfox Build:

            a. The Sigfox Certification Authority will analyze the test results and documentation and will issue a product certificate. 

Note: If any issue is found during this process, the product maker will be contacted by the Sigfox certification Authority for resolution.

The certification of modular design, called Sigfox Verified, would apply in the following cases:

• You are a module maker
•  You are a device maker and you have design your own modular part. You wish to able to re-use this design in other of you own products
• You are a Soc manufacturer and you want to certify your Development solutions

To apply for Sigfox Verified, you will need to provide a Sigfox RF & protocol tests report for every RCs supported by the design. 

The Sigfox Verified™  certification is to acknowledge compliance to RF & protocol specifications of a Modular Design. This intermediate label is provided to designs that are not intended to connect directly to the Sigfox network:

• Modules, which are ready-to-use components, to be soldered to a printed circuit board. 
• Reference Designs, which are a collection of schematics and Bill of Material documents (including components values and tolerances, PCB layout, PCB stack-up) meant to define hardware/software design (only for internal use). 

These two are grouped under the name Modular Designs, which are defined as a hardware/software designs  (details available in Sigfox Certification Handbook). This intermediate label applies also to Development Solutions.

All prices exclude taxes. Certification fees are paid to Unabiz. Testing costs not included, to be paid directly to the local test house.

The certification of devices, called Sigfox Ready, applies to any device to be connected to Sigfox network. If you wish to certify a device, the required tests will depend on the choice of modular design :

• If you are using a Sigfox Verified certified module, you will need to perform only the Sigfox Radiated performance tests
• If you have created your own RF design or followed one from a dev solution, you will need to perform Sigfox RF & protocol tests and the Sigfox Radiated performance tests.
• If you are re-using your own Sigfox Verified certified modular design, you will need to perform only the Sigfox Radiated performance tests.

The Sigfox Ready™ certification tests measure the radiated radio performance of the device. It also makes sure that the device respects Sigfox RF & protocol requirements. The certification is a two-step process:

1. Testing is executed by one of many Sigfox accredited local test houses (see the list of accredited test houses here).
2. Device certification is delivered by Sigfox through the Build platform. Once tests are passed, your device receives a Sigfox certificate.

There are different possible submissions depending on the project and history:

• First submission for Sigfox Ready certification.
• Subsequent unrelated device submitted by the same company.

In addition to the main certification offer, three offers are available to ease the creation of variants or series of already-certified devices:

• "Similar" offer, applies to a device based on an existing Sigfox Ready device which received changes that do not affect its RF communication part (same RC). Typically, applicable for a different sensors.
• "Derived" offer, applies to a device based on an existing Sigfox Ready device solely modified to support one or several additional RCs. Such "Derived" device must keep the same commercial name and must implement the same use-case(s) as the initial Sigfox Ready device.
• "Upgrade" offer, applies to a version of an existing Sigfox Ready device where major changes have been applied while keeping the same model name (reference) and same RC.

One Derived or Similarity certification offer can encompass several derived/similar devices (if submitted all together).
All prices exclude taxes. Certification filling fees are paid to Unabiz. Testing costs not included, to be paid directly to the local test house.