Task group to tackle Wi-Fi for the emerging smart grid

Jean-Pierre Joosting

November 12, 2009

Jean-Pierre Joosting

Austin, Texas — To address growing momentum in the Wi-Fi industry and help ensure Wi-Fi technology and certification programs continue to support evolving smart grid requirements, the Wi-Fi Alliance have announced the release of a report titled "Wi-Fi® for the Smart Grid: Mature, Interoperable, Security-Protected Technology for Advanced Utility Management Communications", as well as its recent formalization of a smart grid task group.

The report details the use of Wi-Fi for smart grid applications in home, neighborhood, and wide area networks. Ten years after its initial introduction to the market, Wi-Fi has proven to be a versatile technology, performing well as a low-power solution for short range data transmission, as a high-performance network for the digital home, and as a scalable solution to cover large outdoor areas such as campuses and neighborhoods.

Key advantages of Wi-Fi technology according to Wi-Fi Alliance executive director Edgar Figueroa is a mature production and certification ecosystem to keep Wi-Fi technology affordable and interoperable, as well as a strong base in home and enterprise networking.

In addition to producing the new report, Wi-Fi Alliance has formalized a task group to provide technical expertise to utilities, government officials, and other interested parties on the various properties of Wi-Fi which make it suitable for the smart grid, and to assess how the long-standing Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ testing program may be extended to support smart grid devices and applications.

The Wi-Fi Alliance is also a participating member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP). SGIP is a forum for stakeholders to participate in the ongoing coordination, acceleration and harmonization of standards development for the smart grid. The SGIP reviews use cases, identifies requirements, coordinates and accelerates smart grid testing and certification, and proposes action plans for achieving these goals.

According to Craig J. Mathias, a principal with the mobile and wireless advisory firm Farpoint Group, Wi-Fi technology is well-established in millions of home networks around the world, and the industry continues to innovate on both low-power and large-network solutions that will dramatically expand its importance in a wide variety of smart grid applications."

With more than 6,000 product certifications completed since its inception, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED testing is a widely-recognized market enabler for wireless technology. Certification evaluation is performed at a worldwide network of 13 independent Wi-Fi Alliance Authorized Test Labs in China, Germany, India, Korea, Japan, Spain, Taiwan and the United States.

For further information visit www.wi-fi.org.