Country for PR: Japan
Contributor: Kyodo News JBN
Wednesday, February 06 2019 - 16:00
AsiaNet
Kyoto University, Teaming with 2 Japanese Companies, Acquires World-First Certification for Wireless Communication Specification Wi-SUN FAN
KYOTO, Japan, Feb. 6, 2019 /Kyodo JBN- AsiaNet/ --

Wireless devices equipped with the new international wireless communication 
specification Wi-SUN FAN (Field Area Network) for the Internet of Things 
developed jointly by the research group of Professor Hiroshi Harada of the 
Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University (hereinafter Kyoto 
University), Nissin Systems Co., Ltd. (hereinafter Nissin Systems), and ROHM 
Co., Ltd. (hereinafter ROHM) became one of the world's first solutions to 
achieve Wi-SUN FAN certification.

Background
In order to realize outdoor communication networks such as smart cities and 
smart grids, high-quality, long-distance and secure network technology is 
required. Wi-SUN FAN is a new specification of Wi-SUN, an international radio 
communications project that is the best suited to the construction of IoTs. It 
is an interoperable communications networking technique for electricity, gas, 
and water metering, as well as for smart cities and smart grids in various 
applications such as infrastructure and intelligent transport systems.

This Wi-SUN FAN is an interoperable low-power IoT wireless communication 
technology that utilizes low-power wireless transmission technology based on 
the IEEE 802.15.4g standard and multistage routing technology based on IPv6. On 
May 16, 2016, the Wi-SUN Alliance, which certifies wireless communication 
standards for IoTs, technical compatibility, and interconnectivity, established 
standard specifications, and on November 11, 2016, the three parties announced 
that they succeeded in basic radio developments compatible with Wi-SUN FAN. The 
Wi-SUN Alliance then announced its Wi-SUN FAN certification program on October 
3, 2018. 

This achievement
Based on the results of the basic development of Wi-SUN FAN, the three parties 
developed a radio compatible with Wi-SUN FAN technical specifications and 
certification program, and passed an IP-based certification test using 
multi-hop, frequency-hopping, and advanced certification security by using a 
plurality of different radios from different companies. This radio has the 
following functions as described in the Wi-SUN FAN Technical Specifications.

- Physical layer and MAC layer corresponding to IEEE 802.15.4/4g/4e required 
  for operation in Japan
- Adaptation layer, network layer, and transport layer established by IETF such
  as 6LowPAN and IPv6
- Multi-hop communication system using RPL
- Frequency hopping
- RADIUS/AAA high-level security
- Multi-vendor interconnectivity

With the IEEE802.15.4/4g/4e technologies capable of stable transmission over 
1km under the Japanese regulation, this radio is equipped with an international 
standard for Internet access, which has been introduced in Wi-Fi (TM) systems, 
and a multi-hop international standard that realizes multi-stage relay between 
radios based on IP. This makes it easy to connect sensors, meters, and monitors 
that make up smart cities and smart metering to the Internet. 

This achievement was carried out in the Impulsing Paradigm Change through 
Disruptive Technologies Program (ImPACT) led by the Council for Science, 
Technology and Innovation, the Cabinet Office. This program was formed by a 
joint industry-academia consortium called the Next-Generation Wi-SUN Joint 
Research Consortium, Kyoto. The three parties, based in Kyoto, are Kyoto 
University, which have a track record of standardization and development of 
IEEE 802.15.4/4g/4e, Nissin Systems, which commercializes Wi-SUN-compatible 
communication middleware, and ROHM, which develops communication modules 
compatible with the standard.

Outline of certification acquisition:
Date and time of certification acquisition: January 30, 2019
Certification authority: Wi-SUN Alliance
Certified testing laboratory: Allion Labs, Inc.
Certification number: WSA 0171 

Future development
In the future, the three parties will participate in an interoperability 
specification verification event sponsored by the Wi-SUN Alliance to contribute 
to testing for technical conformity and interoperability of the Wi-SUN FAN 
standard, and to promote further development as industry-academia cooperation 
projects in Kyoto in order to implement this radio in society. The results were 
also displayed at the Wi-SUN Alliance booth in DistribuTECH 2019, the largest 
power industry-related event in the United States, which was held in New 
Orleans on February 5.

Further details are available at:
http://www.dco.cce.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/PL/PL_2019_01.html


SOURCE: Kyoto University
        Nissin Systems Co., Ltd.
        ROHM Co., Ltd.