Wi-SUN Alliance Opens Certification Program for Home Area Networks
The Wi-SUN Alliance today announced the introduction of its certification program for Enhanced HAN, a new Home Area Network communications profile. The program is now available for a wide range of consumer, enterprise, and operator-specific products.
Systems that will benefit most from this certification program include home appliances and other devices for Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS). The Wi-SUN Alliance's appointed test laboratories in Japan are now ready for members to begin the certification process.
The Enhanced HAN communications profile is an interoperable, reliable and scalable low power wireless standard for Home Area Networks and supports communication between a Home Energy Management System (HEMS) and HAN devices.
The Enhanced HAN profile is an enhanced version of the original Wi-SUN HAN profile. The basic HAN profile defined a single-hop architecture and supported "N : 1 communication". Enhanced HAN, on the other hand, provides multi-hop capability with relay as well as support for sleeping devices, which can enter a very low power state when not communicating. This allows for extended battery life in sleeping devices.
The certification program for Enhanced HAN is scheduled to open in April 2018.
According to Dr. Hiroshi Harada, Kyoto University/NICT and chairman of the Wi-SUN Alliance HAN working group, "The Wi-SUN Enhanced HAN communication specification is defined for all application models which are necessary to complete HAN. Robust HEMS provided with stable throughput will be built by utilizing this specification."
Mr. Terumi Sata of ROHM Co., Ltd., chairman of Japan Marketing Sub-Committee stated, "This certification program is the most suitable choice for wireless devices that are highly reliable and are interoperable with home appliances based on ECHONET Lite. Vendors can now develop high performance HEMS products with a simple structure with devices that have obtained both certifications for HAN and B-route."
