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Introduction to Amazon Sidewalk

Amazon Sidewalk is a secure community network that uses Amazon Sidewalk Gateways (also called Sidewalk Bridges), such as compatible Amazon Echo and Ring devices, to provide cloud connectivity for IoT endpoint devices. Amazon Sidewalk enables low-bandwidth and long-range connectivity at home and beyond using Bluetooth Low Energy for short-distance communication and LoRa and FSK radio protocols at 900MHz frequencies to cover longer distances.

When Amazon Sidewalk Gateway owners opt to participate in the Sidewalk Network, Sidewalk endpoint devices located within the wireless range of this network can be used for applications such as sensing the environment or alerting when a specific condition or event occurs. Amazon Sidewalk supports a diversity of use cases, from connected sensors, utility meters or appliances in and around the home to trackers, tools, toys and monitoring devices that are used in and around neighborhoods and on the go. Amazon Sidewalk transfers data between Sidewalk endpoints and Sidewalk Gateways, and between Sidewalk Gateways and the AWS cloud.

The following are features of Amazon Sidewalk:

  • Amazon Sidewalk creates a low-bandwidth network using Sidewalk Gateways that include select Ring and Echo devices. The Sidewalk Gateways share a small portion of the user’s internet bandwidth, which is then used to connect endpoints to the network. The strength of Amazon Sidewalk network increases with an increase in the number of gateways.
  • Amazon Sidewalk offers a secure networking mechanism with multiple layers of encryption. It can be used to connect endpoint devices and objects, even if they are outside the normal range of Wi-Fi communication.
  • Amazon Sidewalk offers a simple mechanism to enable or disable participation in Sidewalk at any time, from Alexa account settings or Ring Control Center.

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