Ismosys: The ZigBee Specialist

The ZigBee Smart Energy (ZSE) profile was originally defined by the ZigBee Alliance in 2009. The profile comprises a collection of device descriptions and functions that allow energy providers to optimise consumption by effective monitoring and management of the energy load. Driven by the increasing cost of energy and the global need for energy efficiency, ZSE is being adopted by a growing number of utility companies and manufacturers of utility-monitoring equipment, and a rapidly growing after-market of companies offering complementary ZSE compliant products.

ZSE profile classifies the following eight device for reporting the consumption of energy and load management :

Energy Service Interface (ESI) 
 The gateway between the energy supply company's communication network and the metering and energy management devices within the home, the ESI device routes messages to and from relevant end points. The ESI may be a standalone device, but is more often installed within a meter, thermostat, or In-Premise Display. It may also contain another non-ZigBee communication module such as GPRS or a broadband Internet connection.

Metering
The Metering end device is a consumption recorder (electricity, gas, water, heat, etc.) fitted with a ZigBee device. Depending on what's being metered, the device may be capable of immediate requested reads and/or will autonomously send periodic readings. A Metering end device may also be capable of communicating certain status indicators (e.g..battery low, tamper detect, etc.).

In-Premise Display
The In-Premise Display device provides energy consumption data to the user via a graphical or text display that can be active or inactive. Typical information provided by the display includes; energy usage, a history over selectable periods, pricing information and text alerts. The display may also show critical pricing information and advise the customer when pricing peaks are due to occur so that they can take appropriate action.

Load Controller
The load control block is able to receive demand response and load control (DRLC) messages to enable the load to be increased or lowered for a specific time period to, for example loads such as water heaters, water pumps, or lighting.

Programmable Communicating Thermostat (PCT)
The PCT is a thermostat that is responsible for controlling a large load such HVAC equipment. Although it can optionally pick up data relating to meter consumption, pricing and announcement messaging, its primarily requirement for ZSE is that it be able to react to Demand Response Load Control events requested by the utility.

Range Extender 
 The Range Extender is a simple device which acts as a router to extend ZigBee Smart Energy networks in large of difficult environments. The of Range Extenders must be restricted to products that have no other application.

Smart Appliance Control
Smart Appliance Control devices are connected to or integrated in a ZigBee Smart Energy network to participate in energy management activities, and actively inform users of supply and pricing events via In-Premise displays.

Prepayment Terminal 
The Prepayment Terminal device enables utility customers or other users such as sub-metered tenants to pay for consumption in discrete increments, display remaining balances and alert the user of a balance approaching zero, and may perform some of the other functions of the In-Premise Display.

According to David Blissett, Ismosys' ZigBee specialist, developing a ZigBee Smart Energy solution from scratch is not an easy task to be undertaken lightly: "An engineer considering designing a ZSE compliant product needs access to a very broad range of ZigBee solutions, but even then it is all too easy to make a bad decision", Blissett said. "Offering a unique and proven portfolio of ZigBee silicon, modular hardware and software solutions complemented by in- house ZigBee and Smart Energy specialists, Ismosys has made the enormous investment to enable it to provide a clear pathway to a finished solution and assist design engineers to bring their ZigBee Smart Energy product to market in the quickest time with the lowest risk"

Ismosys' ZigBee division represents:

Ember Corporation is a specialist provider of ZigBee wireless networking systems - chips, software and tools.

The company's mission is to enable dramatic energy efficiency improvements for homes, businesses and the utilities that serve them by providing the world's most innovative and cost effective wireless sensor and control network technologies, including the industry's most advanced, complete and integrated ZigBee system.

Telegesis has delivered Smart Energy firmware solutions since 2008 and is today the world's largest supplier of Ember based ZigBee modules. It's products are designed to enable high-performance ZigBee functionality without the need for specialist RF and embedded skills and assist customers to get their ZSE solutions to market faster.