Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We’ve gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.
For companies deploying wireless communications technology, there are many decisions they are faced with when determining the type of products to purchase and deploy. The same is also true for consumers. One very important question that needs to be answered for both is whether or not the products should be based on a proprietary technology or a standard, and if based on standards, which one.
Wireless products that are standards based offer a myriad of benefits over those that are not. On the business side, a key benefit is the dramatically increased number of vendors competing to offer key technology ingredients. On the technology side, a key benefit is the confidence of knowing that many perspectives have gone into the extensive research, development and review of any standard. While vendor competition and high quality development processes are a good foundation, in today’s technologically robust world they simply are not enough. A certification and testing program that independently verifies compliance to the standard instills the deepest confidence in products for everyone.
Certification programs and the certification testing administered by those programs play a vital role in helping to ensure that over time the interpretation and implementation of a standard is common across the board. Good certification programs develop test plans based on the specifications in the standard. These test plans also provide a baseline for comparison of a product implemented against a standard. Conformance testing checks that the functional behavior and features of the product work as described by standard. Interoperability testing checks the ability of a product to work with other products using the same standard.
The combination of conformance and interoperability testing ensures that there is a consistent understanding of the standard’s behaviors and features and its ability to create a functioning system. Well administered certification programs pave the way for end-to-end testing between products and systems using complementary sets of standards. End-to-end testing tests the next level of interoperability by testing across multiple functional domains. A good example of end-to-end testing for ZigBee Smart Energy is the testing across all of the interfaces from the back office to a home area networking end device.
The ZigBee Certified Program is an example of such a program. ZigBee Certified provides certification for eight different and available application standards including ZigBee Smart Energy ZigBee Home Automation, ZigBee Building Automation, ZigBee Light Link, ZigBee Health Care, ZigBee Remote Control, ZigBee Telecom Services and ZigBee Network Devices. Testing of the standard begins with proof-of-concept testing that clarifies and defines the standard in the early stages of development.
Testing moves from proof-of-concept to interoperability as the standard’s development nears. During this time, test cases are also developed and become part of a comprehensive test plan. Prior to actual certification testing commencing, validation events are held to validate the test plan and the independent test service providers. Certification testing utilizes the test plan to verify a product’s conformance to the standard. Every standard and its associated test plan are well vetted a number of times, against a number of implementations before ratifying a ZigBee standard. The ZigBee Alliance is one of a very few standard organizations that takes such an exhaustive approach to certification.
As part of their processes, the ZigBee Certified Program follows guidelines set by the International Organization for Standardization. In the case of ZigBee Smart Energy, it carefully follows the recommendations of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel. Many utilities are seeking to deploy equipment and/or allow their customers to purchase equipment built using ZigBee Smart Energy for their HAN space to support and enable their demand response and new pricing programs. The ZigBee Certified process for ZigBee Smart Energy, like all ZigBee standards, is comprised of interoperability and conformance testing, and adheres to national and international guidelines, all of which are important considerations for utilities in making a technology choice.
Direct involvement of utilities along with equipment vendors, product vendors, and technology developers in the creation of ZigBee Smart Energy can and has created a significant bonus: utility requirements are incorporated directly into the standard. Those requirements are correspondingly reflected in the conformance test cases that are executed during the certification testing. Certification testing includes testing of all mandatory, as well as any optional, features supported by a product. Mandatory features are ones that all products must support to enable a consistent baseline of interoperability among all devices on a ZigBee Smart Energy network. Optional features are those not required by the standard but provided by vendors to differentiate their products from competitors. Subsequent revisions to a standard require that all features added must be deemed optional in order to maintain backwards compatibility. As part of the ongoing process utilities continue to work with the ZigBee Alliance to continually enhance the standards themselves where gaps or common misinterpretations have been identified.
Optional features provide both utility and product developer customization within the context of a standard. The utilities requirements contributed during standard development not only assist in defining the mandatory features, but also optional features. This collaborative process gives the utilities a choice in the specific features they may or may not want to support, thereby giving them control over the behavior of their deployment and the features they want to support. Optional features allow a utility to add support for additional features over time as they are needed and/or supported by the utility. This not only allows the utilities to meet their customers’ current needs, but the future needs as well. Optional features additionally provide an avenue for product developers to offer a broader range of products with a variety of features. This broad range provides the consumer greater choice resulting from the variety of HAN products available such as programmable communicating thermostats, in home displays and energy management systems.
For utilities, there may be additional expectations beyond what ZigBee Smart Energy specifies. Utilities may choose to add additional requirements for their purposes in order to expand their customer relationship. This also gives them the flexibility to address new issues that may not have been crucial when utilities first bought and deployed devices. The business model is evolving to include a full retail enablement model (such as in Texas and California); whereby customers can purchase certified devices of their choice to pair with their smart meter, and in greater and greater combinations. This model provides for a decreased role for the utilities to play, limited to pairing the device to the meter. This role is one that is still developing, but will most likely add complexities to the area of customer support. Business requirements layered on top of standards requirements will always go hand in hand. But the standards and well administered certification programs are a crucial starting point for a good customer experience.
The ZigBee Certified Program facilitates the deployment of ZigBee Smart Energy certified products by administering the interoperability and conformance testing while also defining authorized test service providers responsible for conducting certification testing. Experience gained from the ZigBee Smart Energy product certification process will play a significant role in the highly anticipated ZigBee Smart Energy version 2.
At the end of the day, easy out-of-the-box use is what matters most to utilities and their customers. This can only be achieved through the assurance that the ZigBee Certified Program provides. For utilities, the ZigBee Certified Program is a vital component of ZigBee Smart Energy. Without it the utilities and their customers alike could not have the level of confidence and assurance in ZigBee Smart Energy and the ZigBee Certification Program that they do today.
