The USNAP specification and USNAP modules (http://usnap.org) provide a communications protocol agnostic method to enable smart grid connectivity to in-home devices via user removable communications modules. While not an architecture in of itself, this open standard can reduce costs and facilitate innovation in HAN devices by decoupling the communications from the HAN device. For devices that will connect directly to the AMI network, this module approach will provide a lasting benefit given the diversity of AMI network suppliers.
Both AMI network communications providers and device vendors can realize cost benefits by avoiding costs required to engineer a diversity of tightly-coupled network-device combinations – instead a UNSAP enabled device accepts any USNAP communications module. For devices that will connect to the smart grid through a gateway, this module approach provides a migration path until the diversity of HAN communications protocols is reduced to a reasonable number of options where embedded communication designs become cost-effective for device providers.
No comments:
Post a Comment