Paves the Way to Accelerate IoT End Device Interoperability

SAN RAMON, Calif., Oct. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Wi-SUN Alliance, a global ecosystem of member companies seeking to accelerate the implementation of open standards-based Field Area Networks (FAN) and the Internet of Things (IoT), today announced its FAN Certification Program. FAN is a communications infrastructure for very large-scale networks. In the same way you use the Internet on a smartphone or computer, a Field Area Network lets devices interconnect onto one common network.

The availability of the FAN Certification Program is the result of the vision, collaboration and dedication of a number of Wi-SUN Member companies. Through the certification program, the Wi-SUN Alliance certifies products based on their compliance to a communications profile derived from applicable open standards and their ability to interoperate with other Wi-SUN certified products.

The FAN Certification Program will certify devices for use by utilities, city developers and other service providers to simplify and support large-scale, outdoor networks for smart cities, smart utilities and other IoT rollouts – and to help reduce costs and delays. Wi-SUN members plan to announce certified products in Q4 2018.

Proprietary systems are no longer sufficiently flexible, or as cost-effective as solutions based on open standards, and will become less relevant within a few years. Adhering to the Wi-SUN FAN profile based on open IEEE and IETF standards enables service providers, smart cities and utilities to deploy adaptable multi-service networks and will help ensure interoperability, not only today, but also for many years to come.

"Wi-SUN continues to be at the forefront of IoT innovation, and as cities, utilities and the industry grows their IoT networks, they are increasingly recognizing that industry-wide open standards are essential for interoperability and scalability," says Phil Beecher, President and CEO of the Wi-SUN Alliance. "FAN Certification is an endorsement for governments and the industry that our members' products are compliant to these open standards, and safeguards quality, interoperability, security, scalability – and ultimately gives customers a competitive advantage."

Key benefits of FAN Certification include:

• Offers utilities, cities and service providers adaptable multi-service networks that will help ensure interoperability today and for future generations.
• Reduces the time needed to evaluate new products, as behavior, performance and interoperability are well defined.
• Eliminates single-vendor lock-in.
• Encourages the development of a global ecosystem of standards-based products, reducing the risk and costly impact of stranded assets.

All Wi-SUN certified products are rigorously tested by a certified Wi-SUN appointed third-party test lab to ensure the devices work together effortlessly and securely for rapid time to market. Certified devices include a digital certificate to authenticate entry to a Wi-SUN FAN network, significantly reducing vulnerability to cyber security threats. Under a separate agreement, Wi-SUN has selected GlobalSign to provide Certificate Authority (CA) services to Wi-SUN Alliance member companies.

Third party comments:

Alex Davies, Senior Analyst, Rethink Technology Research and Editor of RIOT: "Open standards are one of the surest ways to ensure mass adoption of a technology. As with WiFi and the 3GPP cellular protocols, Wi-SUN's FAN is delivering multiple choices for equipment and technology suppliers to facilitate customer interest. Energy suppliers and grid operators are concerned about vendor lock-in, particularly due to the long life cycles of their deployments. To this end, Wi-SUN should provide an answer to their mission-critical problems that other LPWAN options cannot. It opens the door for them to expand into other IoT markets, with smart cities a major opportunity."

Iker Urrutia, Manager, Smart Grids, Avangrid: "IoT networking solutions based on open standards and certified to the Wi-SUN FAN profile will be critical in obtaining true interoperability for utility applications, such as AMI, accelerating the digitization of the grid in a cost effective way."

Colton Ching, Senior Vice President of Planning & Technology at Hawaiian Electric: "We continue to see Wi-SUN technology as a major enabler for large-scale IoT applications throughout Hawaii with the availability of its FAN Certification Program. The Wi-SUN Alliance and its members have taken a major step forward in bringing multi-vendor, interoperable solutions to fruition." 

FAN Certification Availability:
The FAN Certification Program has been developed through the collaboration of Wi-SUN member companies, including product vendors and collaborators participating in interoperability events to prove the specifications and certification test program. The following are among some of the companies who have been actively leading the way to certification: Analog Devices, Cisco, EPRI, Itron, Kyoto University/Nissin Systems, Landis+Gyr, ProCubed, Renesas and ROHM Europe.

To learn more about how to submit your products to be certified, please visit http://www.wi-sun.org

Ensuring a product is compliant can be complex so the Wi-SUN Alliance is eager to help and address any concerns. Please join Wi-SUN for an upcoming webinar on Oct 16, 2018 at 8AM PT. In this webinar we will provide an overview of the importance of certification and how to navigate the process to achieve FAN Certification. For more information and to register please click here https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9187903284805872385.

About the Wi-SUN Alliance
The Wi-SUN Alliance is a global non-profit member-based association made up of industry leading companies. Its mission is to drive the global proliferation of interoperable wireless solutions for use in smart cities, smart grids and other Internet of Things (IoT) applications using open global standards from organizations, such as IEEE802, IETF, TIA, TTC and ETSI. With more than 180 members worldwide, membership of the Wi-SUN Alliance is open to all industry stakeholders and includes silicon vendors, product vendors, services providers, utilities, universities, enterprises and municipalities and local government organizations.

For more information, please visit: www.wi-sun.org.

Wi-SUN Alliance and the Wi-SUN Alliance logo are trademarks of the Wi-SUN Alliance.

Related Links

http://www.wi-sun.org

SOURCE Wi-SUN Alliance