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), recently announced its FAN Certification Program. FAN is a communications infrastructure for very large-scale networks that works by letting devices interconnect onto one common network.
The availability of the FAN Certification Program is the result of the collaboration 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.
Wi-SUN says that it believes proprietary systems not to be sufficiently flexible, or as cost-effective as solutions based on open standards, and that they will become less relevant within a few years. Adhering to the Wi-SUN FAN profile based on open IEEE (News - Alert) 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,” said Phil Beecher, President and CEO, 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.”
All Wi-SUN certified products are 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 (News - Alert)) services to Wi-SUN Alliance member companies.
“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,” said Colton Ching, SVP, Planning & Technology, Hawaiian Electric. “The Wi-SUN Alliance and its members have taken a major step forward in bringing multi-vendor, interoperable solutions to fruition.”
The following are among some of the companies who have been actively leading the way to certification: Analog Devices, Cisco (News - Alert), EPRI, Itron, Kyoto University/Nissin Systems, Landis+Gyr, ProCubed, Renesas and ROHM Europe.