Showing posts with label ZigBee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ZigBee. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Technology: First certified ZigBee Smart Energy products announced

Products deliver the final connection points of the smart grid to consumers

San Ramon, California (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - The ZigBee Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, today announced the official certification of 19 products using the ZigBee(R) Smart Energy public application profile. This first group of products provides a broad range of services designed to help utility companies worldwide implement new home area networks for managing energy, helps consumers improve their own energy efficiency and delivers multi-vendor product interoperability.

"Southern California Edison will be relying on ZigBee Smart Energy products like these to connect homes to our industry leading Edison SmartConnect(TM) program," said Paul De Martini, vice president at Southern California Edison.

"ZigBee Smart Energy products will provide our customers with choice and promote long term sustainability."

An Edison International company, Southern California Edison is the largest electric utility in the state of California, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.8 million customer accounts.

The following ZigBee Smart Energy products were tested to ensure they meet all of the Alliance's strict specifications and perform as promised. These products represent solutions across the entire efficiency ecosystem

-- energy services portals, meters, displays, thermostats and load controllers. Each product may wear the ZigBee logo so that they may be easily identified in the marketplace.
-- Cellnet + Hunt
-- FOCUS AX endpoint is an advanced metering endpoint that provides two-way communication with the utility, meter and home-area networks
-- Ember
-- Smart Energy Application is a complete reference implementation of each of the device types, clusters, and security functions, enabling easy customization by device manufacturers to allow rapid development and certification of their products
-- Itron(R)
-- OpenWay(TM) CENTRON(R) advanced electricity meters provide highly accurate electricity measurement and support two-way communications between utilities and homes, including home area networks
-- Itron(R)
-- OpenWay(TM) Gas Module accurately measures natural gas consumption and supports two-way communication with the Itron OpenWay CENTRON meter for meter reading and remote programming
-- Tendril
-- Outlet is a three-prong electrical outlet, for use in any standard home outlet, that monitors and controls the energy consumption of any electrical appliance while offering Internet or in-home display tracking
-- Alektrona
-- Z-Aperture(TM) is a broadband energy service portal providing Internet connectivity for demand-response load-control, sub-metering, and other energy management services
-- Computime Limited
-- CTW200 is a thermostat that monitors, controls and displays energy consumption and rate information while supporting all standard HVAC systems and two stage heat pumps
-- Computime Limited
-- CTW300 is an in home display with a large dot matrix screen for users to monitor energy rate and consumption information in residences
-- Comverge(TM)
-- DCU(TM) offers a wide range of functionality
-- from individual addressing to adaptive algorithms and is compatible with popular air conditioning units, water heaters, pool pumps, and other auxiliary appliances
-- Comverge(TM)
-- SuperStat(R) is a smart thermostat offering both utilities and end users programmable and energy efficient control that operates with popular heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems while offering web based features
-- Energate
-- Pioneer Z100 is a smart thermostat incorporating next generation technology beyond the features found on today's most sophisticated thermostats and provides unparalleled performance with an exceptional user interface
-- Greenbox Technology
-- Greenbox(TM) is a web-based interactive energy management platform enabling households to better understand and manage their energy and water usage, while saving money and reducing their carbon footprint
-- LS Industrial Systems
-- LK Series Single-Phase and Poly-Phase Electric Meters are intelligent, fully featured, and revenue-grade solid-state energy meters with integrated two-way communications supporting many standards
-- National Technical Systems (NTS)
-- Smart Energy Test Harness is a complete reference application emulating all types of ZigBee Smart Energy devices that automates the execution of the complete certification suite needed to achieve certification
-- PRI
-- Home Energy Controller monitors and displays electricity and gas consumption from any meter and provides cost information on a customer friendly display
-- PRI
-- Single and Poly Phase Multi Rate Meters offer optional load control switches and a variety of power ratings to suit any market
-- Trilliant(TM)
-- SecureMesh(TM) Micro Access Portal is independent from the meter and can be embedded in any end-point device including thermostats, in-home displays, appliance controllers or meters and is part of the Trilliant SecureMesh AMI network
-- Wireless Glue Networks
-- GSF Smart Energy Device Simulator models and tests ZigBee Smart Energy devices on ZigBee PRO platforms including Texas Instrument Z-Stack and Ember ZNET and also supports active device on Daintree Networks' SNA Other Alliance members play a key role in facilitating the completion and certification of Smart Energy products.

ZigBee Promoters Ember and Texas Instruments each provide development and implementation support. Certicom provides assistance implementing Elliptic Curve Cryptography on ZigBee Smart Energy devices and issuing device certificates. Daintree
Networks Sensor Network Analyzer provides independent validation of interoperability through implementations of all ZigBee Smart Energy capabilities.

Wireless Glue Networks provides the Glue Software Framework offering simulation test systems to model a variety of ZigBee Smart Energy devices. NTS Corp. and TUV Rheinland, the Alliance's two official test labs, provide testing support and certification services around the world.

"These ZigBee Smart Energy products are an affordable and easy way to improve energy efficiency around the world and reduce the environmental impact of energy consumption," said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance.

"ZigBee Smart Energy is widely recognized as the both the industry standard and leader in providing a secure and consumer friendly method to implement new efficiency programs in homes and businesses around the world."

ZigBee Smart Energy
-- Empowering Energy Efficiency Today ZigBee Smart Energy enables wireless communication between utility companies and common household devices such as smart thermostats and appliances. It improves energy efficiency by allowing consumers to manage their energy consumption more precisely using automation and near real-time information while having the ability to choose from a large global ecosystem of companies supplying interoperable products.

It also helps utility companies implement new advanced metering and demand response programs to drive greater energy management and efficiency, while responding to changing government requirements. For more details on ZigBee Smart Energy and a list of Certified Products, please visit http://www.ZigBee.org/SmartEnergy ZigBee: Wireless Control

That Simply Works ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a non-profit association of more than 260 member companies driving development of ZigBee wireless technology. The Alliance promotes world-wide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for use in energy, home, commercial and industrial areas.

For more information, visit: http://www.ZigBee.org ZigBee(R) is a registered trademark of the ZigBee Alliance. All third-party marks mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE: ZigBee Alliance
CONTACT: Kevin Schader of ZigBee Alliance, +1-925-275-6672, kschader@inventures.com;
or Whitney Liem of GolinHarris, +1-714-662-5111, whitney.liem@golinharris.com,
for ZigBee Alliance
Web site: http://www.ZigBee.org

Monday, March 03, 2008

Atmel introduces an AVR-based 2.4 GHz wireless evaluation platform

Atmel Introduces an AVR-based 2.4 GHz Wireless Evaluation and Development Platform at $99

San Jose, California (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - The kit allows an easy evaluation of short range wireless connectivity with IEEE802.15.4, ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, etc.

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today the availability of the AVR(R) RZ Raven evaluation kit that provides designers a unique ready-to-use development platform in the rapidly growing low power wireless market for the 2.4GHz ISM frequency band available worldwide.

The kit utilizes the AVR picoPower(TM) technology in combination with the superior RF performance offered by the AT86RF230 2.4 GHz ISM transceiver.

The RZ Raven kit comprises two Raven boards, one USB Stick and a selection of firmware application and software that will dramatically reduce time to market for designers considering short range wireless ISM band applications based on IEEE802.15.4(TM), ZigBee(R) or 6LoWPAN.

The Raven board can be used as a multi application wireless node with a LCD graphical user interface. It has two AVR picoPower microcontrollers: an ATmega1284 P that can be used to control RF application stacks, and an ATmega3290 P that controls the display and user interfaces.

The Raven contains a custom LCD display, a 5 position joystick, a microphone and a speaker allowing the evaluation of a variety of user interactions that are appropriate in the target wireless applications.

To support application development the following functionalities are available: graphical user interface, communication ports, ATmega1284 P port pins available on
headers, on-board temperature sensor, voltage sensor, relay driver, boot loader and ISP support for programming.

The USB stick can serve as a PC gateway to the wireless network, or as the hardware platform for wireless protocol analyzer. It is based on the AT90USB1287 AVR microcontroller and the AT86RF230 transceiver.

The firmware provided includes low level drivers and application stacks enabling simple point to point communication, IEEE 802.15.4 compliant solutions, and more complex applications based on ZigBee and 6LoWPAN. Updated source code, libraries and documentation for the applications are available from the Atmel web site. PC software is also provided, including a demo and a management suite for setup, configuration and management of wireless networks.

Key features include wireless protocol analyzer and Over-The-Air upgrade (OTA).
"Customers selecting the AVR Wireless platform get a flexible solution with a wide selection of microcontrollers tailored for any wireless application," said Magnus Pedersen, Director of AVR Product Marketing.

"Combining the superior RF performance and the extremely low power consumption of picoPower technology, Atmel provides an ideal platform for the rapidly growing market of low power wireless devices demanding years of life on a single battery."

The AT86RF230 offers industry best RF performance with a link budget of 104 dB and gives up to 3 times the range of competitor radios. This results in an outdoor range of up to 700 m with the high gain PCB antenna used on the Raven board. Current consumption in active mode is only 15 mA and down to 20 nA in sleep mode.

AVR picoPower devices consume as little as 340 uA in active mode at 1.8V running from the internal RC oscillator at 1 MHz. In power-save mode it is 500 nA with a real time counter running, and 100 nA in power-down mode. picoPower AVRs are pin-, performance-, and code-compatible with existing AVR microcontrollers giving designers flexible hardware options for small, medium sized and complex wireless networks.

The Raven board and the USB Stick holds FCC and ETSI certification.
Availability and Pricing The new kit is available now at a resale price of US$99. Ordering code is: ATAVRRZRAVEN.

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets.

(C) 2008 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel(R), logo and combinations thereof, AVR(R) and others, are registered trademarks, picoPower(TM) and others are trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

Information: AVR RZ Raven information can be retrieved at: http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools_card.asp?tool_id=4291

Product information on Atmel's AVR can be retrieved at http://www.atmel.com/avr

Press Contacts:
Philippe Faure, Marketing Communications Director --
Microcontrollers Tel: +33 2 40 18 18 87,
Email: philippe.faure@atmel.com
Helen Perlegos, Public Relations
Tel: (+1) 408 487-2963,
Email: hperlegos@atmel.com
SOURCE: Atmel Corporation
CONTACT: Philippe Faure, Marketing Communications Director
-- Microcontrollers, +33 2 40 18 18 87,
philippe.faure@atmel.com,
or Helen Perlegos, Public Relations, +1-408-487-2963,
hperlegos@atmel.com, both of Atmel Corporation
Web site: http://www.atmel.com

COPYRIGHT © 2008 - ANTARANEWS

Digi releases extended-range RF module designed for ZigBee mesh

Minnetonka, Minnesota, (ANTARA News/Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Digi International (Nasdaq: DGII) today introduced the XBee-PRO ZNet 2.5, an extended-range RF module designed for ZigBee mesh networking.

The powerful XBee-PRO ZNet 2.5 provides up to 1 mile (1.6 km) RF line-of-sight transmission, significantly increasing the number of applications in which ZigBee mesh networking can be used.

It is the latest addition to Digi's Drop-in Networking product family and is fully compatible with any other XBee ZNet 2.5 Drop-in Networking product, including RF modules, adapters, wall routers and gateways.

"Because of the extended range, ZigBee mesh networking can now be used for applications where there is a greater distance between nodes like automated meter reading, asset management and remote sensor management," said Larry Kraft, senior vice president of global sales and marketing, Digi International.

"The interoperability with Digi Drop-in Networking products and XBee modules also provides customers a tremendous amount of flexibility."

The XBee-PRO ZNet 2.5 provides reliable, wireless data communication over ZigBee networks and satisfies the unique needs of low cost, low-power wireless applications.

It is a fully compatible, pin-swappable extended-range counterpart to the cost optimized XBee ZNet 2.5 which provides up to 400 feet RF line-of-sight transmission.

The XBee-PRO ZNet 2.5 operates on the 2.4 GHz ISM band making it appropriate for use worldwide. It is easy to use and ready to operate out of the box, will be available with four antenna options, has a small form factor and shares the XBee footprint.

XBee RF modules are part of Digi's full line of Drop-in Networking solutions. Drop-in Networking products provide end-to-end connectivity to commercial-grade electronic devices in locations where wired infrastructure does not exist or satisfy customer needs.

The XBee-PRO ZNet 2.5 is available now for USD27.60 in quantities of 1,000.

Development kits are also available for USD339 that include all of the tools necessary to make deployment easy.

For more information about the XBee-PRO ZNet 2.5, visit http://www.digi.com/products/wireless/zigbee-meshxbee-pro-series2-module.jsp .

For more information about Drop-in Networking, visit http:// www.digi.com/products/wirelessdropinnetworking/

About Digi International

Digi International, the leader in device networking for business, develops reliable products and technologies to connect and securely manage local or remote electronic devices over the network or via the web.

Digi offers the highest levels of performance, flexibility and quality, and markets its products through a global network of distributors and resellers, systems integrators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

For more information, visit Digis Web site at http:/www.digi.com, or call +852-2833-1008.

All brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Press Contacts: Hokie Chan Channel Marketing Manager, Asia Pacific
Tel: +852-2235-2206 Email: hokiec@digi.com
SOURCE Digi International Inc.

COPYRIGHT © 2008 - ANTARANEWS