First European field test of IPv6 wireless mesh communication in Smart Meters

Demo Steinkjer facilitates exciting field tests of the new Connode 4 RF-mesh communications modules in a standard, off-the-shelf modular meter.



NTE is one of several Connode 4 customer trials currently taking place in cooperation with European utilities and Telecom operators. Full market availability is planned for late 2013.



Connode 4 is a break-through, industry-first software platform featuring true IPv6-based software architecture. It is based on open standards for m2m applications in general and smart energy deployments in particular. Connode 4 is portable over several communication medias, like 802.15.4g as well other medias in the IEEE 802-family, giving users flexibility as business requirements grows.

“NTE is aiming for an AMI infrastructure using open standards and proven technology. Together with Demo Steinkjer Connode 4 has given us the opportunity to test a solution complying with all our requirements for a modern and secure AMI communication platform,” says Håvard Valøen at NTE.



“Real life tests show that both range and performance is beyond previous versions of Connode radio mesh. All testing have been done with real end-to-end security activated. Our analysis show that the security model provided by Connode is future proof and well anchored using IEEE and IETF standards,” says Valøen.



Valøen points out that the use of IPv6/6LowPAN gives the opportunity to integrate 3rd party tools for simple monitoring and troubleshooting. “During our testing and analysis it has been a clear benefit that standard IPv6 and DTLS is used. We can easily make dumps and verify how the communication and security protocols work without the need of any vendor specific tools,” he says.



“All in all, both NTE and Connode are satisfied with the test of new technology in our demo. We look forward to further testing of the solution in our “living lab” in Demo Steinkjer. The results from these tests will be of great interest to other utility companies who are preparing for the AMS roll-out as well,” says Erik Hatling, Project manager for Demo Steinkjer.