The Wi-SUN Alliance is a global industry association focused on advancing wireless communication technologies for various large-geography Internet of Things (IoT) applications, including smart metering. In this exclusive interaction, we have Phil Beecher, President & CEO, Wi-SUN Alliance, discussing how the association, with its newly-launched FAN Certification Program for products in India will help Indian utilities and local government bodies accelerate the deployment of smart meters and other connected IoT devices across their networks. An interview by Venugopal Pillai.
Let us start by understanding in brief the rationale behind forming the Wi-SUN Alliance. What is the current membership globally and which type of service providers form the majority?
The Wi-SUN Alliance is a global industry association focused on developing and advancing wireless communication technologies for smart utility, smart city, and other large-geography Internet of Things (IoT) applications. These applications include utility Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Distribution Automation (DA), smart street lighting, environmental monitoring, and other smart city and smart grid initiatives.
Our specifications incorporate open global standards from international standard development organizations, such as IEEE802, IETF, TIA, TTC, and ETSI. We have a diverse, global membership of more than 300 organizations, including silicon vendors, product vendors, service providers, utilities, software developers, universities, enterprises, municipalities, research institutions, and local government organizations.
Our members collaborate on the development and support of low-power, long-range, secure wireless communications. We ensure interoperability between compliant devices from different manufacturers and our rigorous certification programs test products for compliance with Wi-SUN specifications.
Service providers range from public or private utilities, and municipalities managing their own private networks, value added service providers, who are contracted to manage a private network on behalf of a utility or city, or public network providers who provide the network service to customers.
Tell us more about India’s involvement in the Wi-SUN Alliance, in terms of membership.
We have a number of member companies based in India, including Cisco, Landis+Gyr, Renesas Electronics, Silicon Labs, Texas Instruments, Comminent, CNLabs, CyanConnode, Exegin Technologies, and System Level Solutions. Our membership recognizes the important opportunity to help drive considerable growth of smart cities and support the rapid rollout of smart meter projects in India in the coming years.
What major benefits can a prospective member expect from joining the Wi-SUN Alliance?
Members within the Wi-SUN Alliance play a key role in developing and deploying large-scale wireless network technologies and solutions.
Prospective new members can enjoy benefits such as influencing and accessing Wi-SUN Alliance specifications, which describe how to implement interoperable and compliant products and solutions.
Product vendors can also get involved in certification and interoperability testing, which encourages members to submit products to the Wi-SUN Alliance’s certification programs. These programs verify if products meet Alliance standards for compliance with the specifications and interoperability with other products. Product certification gives competitive advantage to vendors and is frequently required by Utility or Municipality customers in their request for proposals (RFPs). Members that adopt Wi-SUN technology and have their products certified are promoted within a range of the Alliance’s market development activities.
Wi-SUN membership offers extensive networking opportunities with the industry’s industry leaders and technical experts. There are also educational opportunities to help them stay informed about the latest Wi-SUN developments and best practices.
We have heard about the latest Wi-SUN FAN certification program by Wi-SUN Alliance. Tell us more.
Wi-SUN FAN (Field Area Network) is a specification developed for smart cities, smart utilities, and other large-scale IoT deployments. The technology can also be applied to offices, campuses, and industrial settings.
A Field Area Network provides connectivity for field devices deployed across large geographic areas. This communications infrastructure allows industrial devices such as streetlights and smart meters to connect onto a single secure network. FANs underpin the success of the energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and public safety sectors.
Wi-SUN FAN supports many applications, from electricity and gas metering to smart lighting and smart water management, to benefit utility companies, city developers, and municipalities. A proven specification for smart metering networks, Wi-SUN FAN has been deployed in millions of units across various countries.
The resilient, self-healing mesh structure of FAN allows communications to continue operating even if part of the network fails. It also supports dense urban networks, where a mix of both old and new architecture causes a major challenge for less adapted wireless technologies such as cellular.
Unlike other solutions for large-scale deployments, Wi-SUN FAN is a wireless mesh network that incorporates open standards. The specification avoids vendor-lock in, typically associated with proprietary solutions, and delivers improved reliability and security. Wi-SUN FAN supports high data rates, and the capability for fast network reformation, allowing utility and municipality networks to quickly return to normal operation after network disruption such as a power loss.
On a technical note, which service provider in the entire smart metering ecosystem needs to get Wi-SUN Alliance FAN certification? Is it the AMISP or the smart meter manufacturer?
The Wi-SUN certification program is applicable for products. Smart meter manufacturers, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, as well as system integrators can have confidence that certified products from multiple vendors will interoperate on the same network.
We recall that the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) adopted Wi-SUN FAN specification last year. Please elaborate.
Wi-SUN FAN was adopted by the national standards body of India, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), as the national standard (IS:18010(Part4/Sec1)) for India’s smart meter radio frequency communication networks. This is clear example that the BIS recognizes the role of wireless mesh technology in the growth of smart city and smart meter projects in India.
Important industry stakeholders in India, such as Global Smart Energy Federation (GSEF) Chairman Reji Pillai said: “We should ideally make it mandatory for all smart metering and smart city applications which will ensure interoperability between different systems and reduce total cost of ownership of all applications.”
We learn that a set of vendors catering to India have achieved Wi-SUN FAN certification. Tell us more.
Comminent, Renesas Electronics, and Silicon Labs have become the first vendors to have their smart devices tested and passed at CN Labs’ testing facility in Bengaluru, India, ensuring compliance with the Wi-SUN FAN specification. The certification guarantees that those buying Wi-SUN Alliance certified products have the assurance the equipment adheres to a high level of interoperability, security, and resilience.
The program certifies the communications functionality of products such as smart meters, Data Concentrator Units (DCUs), generic communications modules and development kits, as well as other smart sensors.
Is it that the Wi-SUN FAN certification caters only to the RF mesh communication protocol? Though this is the most popular protocol used in India, what about NB-IoT and GPRS protocols?
The Wi-SUN certification program focusses on RF Mesh communications, specifically Wi-SUN FAN and IS:18010(Part4/Sec1. Cellular protocols are covered by programs from other organisations.
How do you see the years ahead for Wi-SUN Alliance in India and the potential contribution that it could make to the India’s smart metering aspirations?
Therefore, it is vital that deployments adhere to strict cyber security requirements, can be scaled, and devices from various vendors can communicate and interoperate with each other. Wireless mesh networks, comprising of tested and certified devices, can ensure that utilities deliver reliable smart grid infrastructure and make the region’s ambitious utility and smart city projects a reality.
To date, many of India’s utilities have relied on proprietary solutions for their communications networks, leading to a dependence on specific vendors. This has also been compounded by a lack of transparency and limited security of IoT devices, which remain concerns for Indian utility companies.
Wi-SUN FAN remains the logical choice to support long-term operations, offering the much-needed transparency and interoperability, all while eliminating any risk of a single-point failure within the network. Wi-SUN FAN’s highly secure and scalable standards-based wireless mesh technology will support the growth of utilities and smart cities in India and ensure the rapid rollout of smart meter projects in the years ahead.
Bio-profile: Phil Beecher, President & CEO of the Wi-SUN Alliance, has extensive experience in wireless communications protocols, standards and testing. He is currently vice chairman of IEEE 802.15 Working Group, and liaison to ISO/IEC JTC1. He is also the chairman of IEEE 802.15 TG4ad, and was the chairman of IEEE 802.15 TG4g, TG4u and TG4v (wireless standards for Smart Utility Networks for use globally), technical editor of IEEE 2857-2021, vice chairman of IEEE 802.15 TG4m (TV Whitespace), vice chairman of the WiFi Alliance Smart Grid Task Group, chairman of OpenSG Edge Conformity Task Group, contributing editor to IEEE802.15.4-2006 and has held positions in the US Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) Test and Certification Committee, Telecom Industry Association and Bluetooth SIG. He has been an active contributor in the development of communications standards and the specification of test plans for a number of Smart Utility Network standards, including Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Home Energy Management Systems.
Phil is a graduate of the University of Sussex with a degree in Electronic Engineering and holds patents in communications and networking technology.
