Among the products and solutions of the Neighborhood Area Network (NAN) designed for the wireless smart energy grid of its members. The NAN is defined as a last-mile outdoor access network for utilities that connects smart meters and automatic distribution devices to Wide Area Network (WAN) gateways, such as RF collectors or data concentrators and field devices.
There is a global requirement from regulators and utilities for interoperable, standards-based NANs. Open global standards offer services with a wider range of product feature options, increased price competition, reduced supply risk, and flexibility in vendor selection, while ensuring seamless product functionality. Existing IEEE and IETF standards alone do not guarantee interoperability due to the many options available within those standards. The NAN specification will fill this gap by selecting the most appropriate options from among standards and defining a communication profile with certifiable interoperability. This will be a significant improvement for utilities compared to the proprietary, non-interoperable, single-vendor solutions currently available.
To ensure interoperability, a fully wireless communication protocol will be defined for Layers 1 through 4 of the ISO OSI communication stack. This provides a harmonized transport network to support various IP-based applications. Layers 1 and 2 will be based on the IEEE 802.15.4g amendment to the IEEE 802.15.4 (2011) standard, which was introduced to enable the development of NAN's interoperable standards. Layers 3 and 4 will be based on IEFTS standards, including the IPv6 network layer and associated networking systems, appropriate routing and transport protocols (e.g., RPL, UDP, and TCP), and relevant security mechanisms. This wireless communication profile will enable interoperability among different vendors who have implemented their smart meters, smart grid devices, and communication infrastructure node products according to NAN's certifiable communication profile. Today's existing smart grid applications, such as smart metering and distribution automation, will operate on top of this interoperable IPv6 wireless communications profile.
A key aspect of this NAN standardization work is establishing a testing and certification program supported by independent testing companies to certify the interoperability of smart grid products and solutions from different manufacturers. The ZigBee Alliance will maintain a registry of certified smart metering and smart grid products to provide confidence to utility customers when selecting their smart grid vendor. The ZigBee Alliance already has extensive experience successfully managing testing and certification programs for other application areas, such as smart energy.
“Our Alliance boasts an impressive collection of global leaders in smart metering and smart grids, along with top specialists in communication protocols and silicon,” said Bill Lichtensteiner, Director of Communications Technology at Landis+Gyr. “Combining this expertise with our Alliance’s experience and the growing focus on testing and certifying interoperable communication profiles results in a valuable set of standards for our customers and utility vendors. As well as ensuring interoperability between products from different vendors, these standards will help increase performance and reliability, reduce risk, and enhance flexibility.”
To date, the definition and documentation of market requirements and detailed technical requirements for the NAN have been completed. A series of proof-of-concept events to evaluate the interoperability of the PHY/MAC functions to be included in the NAN standard were held last year with the participation of companies from around the world. NAN products from all participants were able to communicate with each other via the PHY/MAC layers. In addition, several companies demonstrated interoperability for basic IP functions. The NAN standardization work will be completed by the end of 2014 as planned and will include the Technical Specification, Protocol Implementation Compliance Statement (PICS), and Test Certification Plan.
"The ZigBee Alliance has a long history of developing interoperable wireless communication standards based on the open international standards IEEE 802.15.4 and IETF, which have been adopted globally in numerous applications," said Tobin JM Richardson, president and CEO of the ZigBee Alliance. "We welcome this new initiative, which was started by our smart grid member companies, and look forward to expanding our activities to help utilities achieve interoperability across their NANs."
