The Wi-SUN Alliance has unveiled a product certification programme for Wi-SUN based smart meters, smart sensors, and sundry IoT modules development kits. Certification will ensure Wi-SUN devices, compliant with the FAN (Field Area Network) 1.1 wireless mesh specification, work with other products on the same network, and also adhere to cybersecurity and network resilience standards. It is pitched to buyers in the utilities and smart-city sectors. The first FAN 1.1 vendors will be certified this quarter, said the alliance.
The open ‘wireless smart utility network’ (Wi-SUN) mesh protocol is based on the IEEE 802.15.4g SUN standard, approved in March 2012. Its focus from the start has been to untangle the complex web of communications technologies that have grown up within smart grids around proprietary systems and legacy equipment. It is commonly presented as an alternative to low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies like NB-IoT and LoRaWAN.
The alliance has 300-odd members, including the likes of Cisco and Itron as ‘promoter’ members. It said: “The open standards that Wi-SUN is based on also allow utilities and other IoT users to build efficient and reliable networks free of proprietary limitations – such as vendor lock-in – that add costs and risks.” The Wi-SUN community is targeting battery-powered gas and water meters on IoT mesh networks. Other use cases include demand/response systems and distribution automation.
The alliance has worked to get manufacturers to agree on common IPv6 based specifications for communications gear in the smart grid. The latest version of the FAN specification adds new functions. The alliance said it offers “almost 10-times the maximum data rate”, plus “very low-power operations” for longer battery life, and “continued ability to scale into millions of nodes”. FAN 1.1 is backwards compatible with FAN 1.0, so new devices integrate with existing networks.
Phil Beecher, chief executive at the Wi-SUN Alliance, said: “Organisations providing public services are seeking to improve their efficiency. Collecting large amounts of relevant data and being able to roll out the latest technologies is crucial for this. But none of that is possible without secure, resilient network infrastructure. [This programme] will provide assurance that the devices they are buying will work securely and smoothly in their existing networks.”
In a supplied quote, Chris Calvert, vice president of technologies at Landis+Gyr, said: “Operational disruptions can be detrimental for the utilities sector; communications need to be ‘always-on’… Wi-SUN FAN mesh infrastructure… [provides] utilities with the ubiquitous connectivity and confidence that their critical comms will remain uninterrupted. When new operation enhancing technologies become available and a complete ‘rip-and-replace’ of critical infrastructure is not an option, Wi-SUN’s FAN 1.1 certification enables them to smoothly integrate new technologies.”
