MORGAN HILL, Calif., Jan. 27, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Wi-SUN Alliance today announced the release of a feature complete version of its technical profile specification for field area network communications. The specification brings Smart Utility Networks to enterprises, service providers and municipalities by enabling interoperable, multi-service and secure IPv6 communications over an IEEE 802.15.4gTM-based wireless mesh network. Mesh-enabled field area networks provide resilient, secure and cost effective connectivity with extremely good coverage in a range of topographical environments, from dense urban neighborhoods to rural areas, with minimal additional infrastructure.
The Wi-SUN Alliance is a global non-profit industry association seeking to advance seamless connectivity by promoting IEEE 802.15.4g standard-based interoperability for global regional markets. This new specification is designed to enable this wireless connectivity in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), distribution automation (DA), and smart cities (e.g., networked street lighting or other critical infrastructure) across all regions that are addressed by the IEEE 802.15.4g global standard. Regions supported by this specification, now and in the near future, include North America, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Asia Pacific, India, Europe, the Middle East and South Africa.
"We are extremely pleased to make this announcement; this specification demonstrates the commitment of major industry contributors to collaborate on a truly interoperable specification," said Phil Beecher, Chair of the Wi-SUN Alliance. "We will now focus on completing the testing and certification program which will deliver strong interoperability of products from multiple vendors."
"This is a significant milestone in building a truly interoperable specification for RF Mesh networks. It demonstrates a true commitment by a number of the major vendors developing RF Mesh solutions using IEEE and IETF IPv6 standards based specifications," said Kip Compton, VP of IoT Systems and Software, Cisco Systems.
"Global, open standards create the promise of interoperability between devices on the massive-scale mesh networks around the world. This specification creates the basis for the certification program that will deliver on that promise, and thus drive additional growth of smart networks worldwide," said Raj Vaswani, CTO, Silver Spring Networks and Co-Chairman of the Board for the Wi-SUN Alliance.
The specification includes:
- 802.15.4g physical layer congruent with the existing Wi-SUN Alliance PHY Certification Program
- Frequency hopping, network discovery/join and protocol dispatch
- IPv6 protocol suite, including 6LoWPAN, address management, routing using RPL, unicast and multicast forwarding
- Standards-based multi-layer security specification encompassing authentication, authorization, encryption, etc.
To learn more about the Wi-SUN FAN, please visit:
http://www.wi-sun.org/fan-resources
About the Wi-SUN Alliance
The Wi-SUN Alliance is a global non-profit industry association of leading companies devoted to the proliferation of interoperable wireless technology across devices and market segments. With technology development, market building, and certification programs, the Wi-SUN Alliance has enabled widespread adoption of Wi-SUN worldwide.
The Wi-SUN CERTIFIED™ program was launched in January 2014. It provides a widely recognized designation of interoperability and quality, and it helps to ensure that Wi-SUN enabled products deliver the best user experience. The Wi-SUN Alliance product certification program will encourage the expanded use of interoperable products and services in new and established markets.
Wi-SUN Alliance and the Wi-SUN Alliance logo are trademarks of the Wi-SUN Alliance.