June 29, 2009

Digi International introduces Smart Energy product family

Digi International introduced a comprehensive Smart Energy product family, including the industry’s first ZigBee Smart Energy ready modules and certified Energy Service Portal (ESP) gateways built on these modules. The ZigBee Smart Energy public profile defines how a collection of devices works cooperatively within a network, enabling utilities to intelligently manage energy loads, monitor energy use and optimize consumption. As a device communication standard for home area networks (HANs) selected by the U.S. Department of Energy in their initial standards framework for Smart Grid development, ZigBee Smart Energy is a key technology for addressing America’s energy management needs in the future. With the release of ZigBee Smart Energy ready modules and gateways, Digi is making this technology more accessible than ever before.

Digi’s new ZigBee Smart Energy product family includes the XBee® and XBee-PRO® SE ZigBee modules and ConnectPort™ X2 ESP certified gateway. Built upon the existing XBee and XBee-PRO ZB, the new XBee and XBee-PRO SE modules feature firmware that simplifies the development work required to develop and certify a ZigBee Smart Energy device. The ConnectPort X2 ESP gateway provides the connection between a consumer’s HAN and an energy service provider over a broadband or cellular connection.

“We developed a new programmable and controllable thermostat using the XBee SE module,” said Michael Kuhlmann, president, Residential Control Systems. “The XBee SE module made the development process easy and reduced development time of our industry-leading product by almost half.”

“Digi is taking a leadership role in creating the Smart Grid,” said Joe Dunsmore, CEO, Digi International. “Our March launch of iDigi Energy makes creating wireless energy management applications incredibly easy. And now with this Smart Energy launch, our OEM customers can quickly create the interoperable thermostats, in-home energy displays, metering devices and load controllers needed to make the Smart Grid a reality.”

Digi ZigBee Smart Energy products also expand the recently launched iDigi Energy wireless M2M solutions bundle, which features the hardware, hosted software and services necessary to quickly and easily integrate Smart Grid devices. iDigi now includes Smart Energy ready hardware as well as Smart Energy software support through the iDigi platform, a Platform as a Service (PaaS) that connects remote assets to a customer’s applications.

“The ZigBee Smart Energy profile is the standard for Smart Grid applications,” said Benno Ritter, vice president of marketing at the ZigBee Alliance. “With the release of Digi’s new product family, the company is driving the energy industry forward by making it easier for OEMs to develop ZigBee Smart Energy devices.”

XBee and XBee-PRO ZB ZigBee modules feature ZigBee Smart Energy-ready firmware for supporting the implementation of each of the eight devices defined in the ZigBee Smart Energy public application profile. These include ESPs, metering devices, in-premise display devices, programmable communicating thermostats (PCTs), load controllers, range extenders, smart appliances and prepayment terminals. Developers making these devices can now use Digi’s Smart Energy products and iDigi Energy bundle to dramatically reduce the development and certification time, and overall expertise required, to produce a ZigBee Smart Energy product.

Additionally, XBee and XBee-PRO ZB ZigBee modules handle networking, joining, authentication and key establishment functions, and provide simple network and module configuration via the XBee Application Programming Interface (API). Customers can also upgrade their existing XBee and XBee-PRO ZB modules with Smart Energy firmware free of charge.

The ConnectPort X2 ESP enables energy service providers to deploy HAN devices that are completely managed by the Digi gateway over a broadband or cellular connection, allowing Smart Grid services to be deployed in areas not covered by Smart Metering networks. Once a Smart Meter is installed, the gateway can join that network providing programmable energy services in the home and secondary communication paths over public networks for enhanced energy service offerings. The ConnectPort X2 ESP was tested and certified using National Technical Systems' (NTS) ZigBee Smart Energy (SE) Test Harness.

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