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Make Your Existing Locks Smart: Module or Custom PCBA

KoreLock turns a manufacturer’s existing electronic locks into connected BLE and Wi-Fi smart locks, fitted to your lock rather than forcing your lock to fit our board. There are two ways in: add the KoreLock module, which connects to your existing PCB over a serial line, or replace your electronics with a custom PCBA we design for your lock. Our engineers evaluate your hardware and recommend the best path. Both connect your locks to the KoreLock platform, white-label apps and APIs.

Existing electronic lock made smart with the KoreLock module inside

POWERING SMART LOCKS FOR LOCK MANUFACTURERS AND ACCESS CONTROL PLATFORMS

Two ways to enable your lock

KoreLock module

How it works: add the module to your lock. It connects to your existing PCB over a serial line, and your base board firmware is updated to communicate with our protocol. Our engineers can help with that update.

 

Your existing PCB: stays, with a firmware update to talk to the module

 

Best for: the fastest route onto the platform with your current hardware

 

Timeline: faster than a custom board

Custom PCBA

How it works: we design a new board around your housing, motor, reader (keypad, touchpad, NFC, QR) and power budget, replacing your existing electronics.

 

Your existing PCB: replaced

 

Best for: new products, or a tighter fit for your housing, motor and battery

 

Timeline: about 6 months to production-ready (about 75% board design and prototyping, 25% firmware)

Customized to your lock

We don’t sell one board and ask you to redesign around it. Whichever path you choose, our engineers fit the work to your product:

 

Board work for your form factor, motor, battery and reader

Firmware features your channel asks for, built by a US engineering team on real timelines

Credential mix chosen per product: mobile keys, PINs, algorithmic PINs, NFC and cards

Integrations with the property management and access control systems your buyers use

 

KoreLock electronics already ship in lever locks, deadbolts, mortise locks, narrow stile locks, exit trim, interconnected locks and 1-door edge controllers.

How a program runs

  1. Discovery: your lock, target market, volume and required certifications

  2. Choose the path: our engineers evaluate your hardware and recommend the module or a custom PCBA

  3. Integration or board work: a serial connection and base board firmware update for the module, or new board design and prototyping (about 75% of a custom PCBA project)

  4. Firmware customization: about 25% of a custom PCBA project

  5. App branding and cloud setup: your app identity on our white-label apps

  6. Factory enablement: flash stations and QA test systems so your contract manufacturer can program and test every unit on the line

  7. Launch and support: OTA updates, monitoring and US-based support

 

Want the full picture? See every layer of the KoreLock smart lock platform.

Connectivity

  • BLE: lock and unlock, user management, settings, history, mobile credentials and firmware updates when a phone is in range. The phone can act as a gateway to sync events to the cloud, which helps in older buildings with weak Wi-Fi.

  • Wi-Fi direct: our patented method uses dynamic wake-up schedules for the Wi-Fi radio, keeping it asleep until needed. Locks reach the cloud over existing Wi-Fi with no gateway, and battery replacements are far less frequent.

 

Credentials and offline access

Modules support mobile keys; permanent, temporary and algorithmic PINs; NFC and cards; and web credentials. Algorithmic PINs and mobile keys keep working when a lock is offline, which matters for vacation rentals, remote sites and doors with no network.

 

Security

  • Boot: secure boot with cryptographically signed firmware

  • Updates: signed and verified OTA with rollback protection and staged rollouts

  • Keys: hardware-backed storage in a Common Criteria EAL 6+ certified secure element

  • Cloud link: TLS with mutual authentication and per-device X.509 certificates

  • Phone link: encrypted BLE

  • Cloud: SOC 2-compliant AWS, OAuth 2.0 API access, encryption at rest

Frequently asked questions

  • The module is the fastest route when your current board can be adapted to talk to it. A custom PCBA makes sense for a new product or when you need a tighter fit for your housing, motor, reader or battery. Our engineers evaluate your hardware and recommend the best path.

  • BLE and Wi-Fi radios, a secure element and firmware that handles credentials, schedules, power management and OTA updates. It connects to your lock’s existing PCB over a serial line, and that board’s firmware is updated to communicate with our protocol. Our engineers can help with the update.

  • Typical battery life is about one year on the products we power, thanks to our patented Wi-Fi power management.

  • No. Locks connect directly to Wi-Fi; BLE handles local access.

  • No. With the module, your existing PCB stays: it connects to the module over a serial line, and its firmware is updated to communicate with our protocol, with help from our engineers if you need it. With a custom PCBA, we design the new board to fit your existing housing and mechanics.

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