Wireless Smart Ubiquitous Network (Wi-SUN) - Another IoT Standard

While we have been discussing IoT these last few weeks, here is another one that I came across. This picture above from a recent Rethink research shows that Wi-SUN is going to enjoy more growth than LoRaWAN or Sigfox. Another recent report by Mobile Experts also makes a mention of this IoT technology.

I am sure most of the readers have not heard of Wi-SUN, so what exactly is Wi-SUN technology?

From Rethink Research, The Wi-SUN Alliance was formed in 2011 to form an organization to push adoption of the IEEE 802.15.4g standard, which aimed to improve utility networks using a narrowband wireless technology. The peer-to-peer self-healing mesh has moved from its initial grid focus to encompass smart city applications (especially street lighting), and we spoke to its Chairman, Phil Beecher, to learn more.

Beecher explained that the non-profit Alliance set about defining subsets of the open standards, testing for interoperability, and certifying compatible products, and soon developed both a Field Area Network (FAN) and a Home Area Network (HAN), which allowed it to move into Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) in Japan – a country that is leading the curve in HEMS deployments and developments.

As can be seen in the picture above:

• Develops technical specifications of Physical Layer (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers, with Network layer as required
• Develop Interoperability test programs to ensure implementations are interoperable
• Physical layer specification is based on IEEE802.15.4g/4u/4v
• MAC layer may use different options depending on the application
• Profile specifications are categorized based on application types

Picture source for the last three pics, Wi-SUN presentation here.

A new whitepaper from Wi-SUN Alliance provides comparison of Wi-SUN, LoRaWAN and NB-IoT.

A recent presentation by Dr. Simon Dunkley in Cambridge Wireless is embedded below:

Critical networking using mesh Wi-SUN technology from 3G4G

Further reading:

• Wi-SUN Alliance: Whitepapers
• Wi-SUN Alliance: Presentations
• Wi-SUN Alliance Advances Smart Cities, IoT In India After Completing First Interoperability Event Of IEEE802.15.4u PHY
• WiSUN: A Proven Solution Delivering Ubiquitous Connectivity
• Wi-SUN Alliance releases smart city and metering protocol standard