Your new home is the world on the edge of the future, and your city is not only full of people but also full of data. Since the population of cities only keeps growing, smart city solutions are no longer a dream of the future but a dire need. One of the reports released by Fortune Business Insights estimates the global smart cities market size to be valued at USD 1.2 trillion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 6.97 trillion by 2032 at a CAGR of 19.4%. All this technology will undoubtedly do all these wonderful things; all we need is a backbone to the network that is equally smart, be it smart meters, traffic management, or even environmental monitoring of the whole city. Welcome the unsung hero who promises to transform the game in IoT for smart cities and metering through Wi-SUN networks.
The Wi-SUN networks are not another wireless communication standard but a Wireless Smart Utility Network. Wi-SUN, unlike traditional Wi-Fi or Zigbee, is based on IEEE 802.15.4g and targeted at long-range, low-power, maximum security, and scalable mesh communications. It is planned to interconnect millions of objects distributed over a wide geographical distance, e.g. electric machines, street lights, crossing lights, and environmental sensors. But what made it the biggest kicker? Wi-SUN has IPv6, ensuring that each device can be assigned a unique address, essential to dealing with the huge scale of sensors in IoT for smart cities.
What makes the Traditional Networks important?
Consider that Wi-Fi cannot operate the utility system of an entire city. It is impossible to do a marathon in some kind of flip-flops, messy, unreliable, and dead areas. Wi-SUN networks swoop on us with:
- Self-healing mesh networks: Components can automatically reroute the communication in case of a node failure.
- Proven reliability in the field: More than 95 million devices in the world are operating in such cities as Tokyo, San Diego, and Paris.
- Open standards: The cities are not in a lock-in situation and are free to select and use hardware of different designs.
Cellular networks may be faster to use, but they are costly, power-intensive and not designed to support low-bandwidth communication between machines (so-called Machine-to-Machine or M2M). Wi-SUN, on the other hand, is the revolutionary enabler of smart utility networks.
The Way Wi-SUN Can Link the Dots
Wi-SUN networks have a secret sauce: their mesh architecture. In a Wi-SUN network, all devices can communicate with each other (like a router), as opposed to all the devices communicating to one point of communication (as in the case of a router). This renders the following network:
- Scalable: Consider adding a new sensor or meter. Not a bit: it wears itself out in the mesh.
- Elastic: In the event of a failure in one of the paths, the data is automatically switched to an alternative.
- Energy efficient: The devices turn off when there is no need and save energy.
Such a system can be ideal in sprawling urban environments where IoT for smart cities requires prohibitively costly and physically infeasible installation of the central hubs.
Game Changer in Utility Metering
Energy efficiency is based on smart metering. Smart meters are not only being adopted by utilities across the world to make their billing fully automated, but also to have real-time consumption information, to know about leaks or outages, and to have an optimal distribution of energy. This is where smart utility networks powered by Wi-SUN networks excel:
- The transmission of data in real-time within a huge network.
- Remote upgradeable and diagnostics using two-way communications.
- End-to-end security with AES 128-bit encryption.
As an example, take Japan. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) started installing 27 million Wi-SUN-based smart meters, considered one of the largest Wi-SUN-related deployments. The result? A more reliable grid and a colossal fall in the cost of manual metering.
Big Cities are the New Smart Cities
Wi-SUN is not metering only; it is the Swiss army knife of smart city solutions and innovation. Think:
- Intelligent light on streets that dims when traffic is low to protect energy.
- Traffic sensors maximise the signal used to alleviate traffic.
- Sensors of air quality that give hyperlocal data on pollution.
Wi-SUN can be applied in smart streetlights in San Jose, California, which can multitask since they can have air quality sensors and security cameras installed. The city claimed as much as 60% in energy savings and improvement in the results of public safety. This demonstrates how IoT for smart cities is redefining sustainability.
Security, Size, and Sustainability
Cybersecurity is one of the greatest obstacles to smart tech and its adoption. Who would like a city where hackers can switch off lights or water? Wi-SUN is multi-layered and secured, that is:
- Device authentication
- Data encryption
- Checking network integrity: Network integrity verification
Wi-SUN is green to the core. Its low-power nature makes the longevity of batteries last 10 more years, which saves considerable electronic waste and maintenance costs. This is why AaensaTech leverages Wi-SUN networks as part of its smart city solutions, ensuring safety and sustainability together.
What is in the Future?
The planet is running to reach net-zero cities, and that cannot be done without effective and intelligent infrastructure. Wi-SUN is going to be the neural system of these digital cities. With the development of AI and IoT for smart cities, Wi-SUN networks will enable predictive maintenance, autonomous transport, disaster warning, and others. A Wi-SUN Alliance Report reported that more than 88% of utilities and cities are either already evaluating or implementing Wi-SUN networks. It is not a trend; it is a tectonic move.
Conclusion
The world is awash with information and countless gadgets, and Wi-SUN not only keep pace—it walks in front. It is quicker than Wi-Fi, safer than Zigbee, and less expensive than LTE to communicate over long distances and low data applications. Hence, when the future is about smart city solutions, Wi-SUN networks are the invisible stitch, which is connecting them. The thing is, Wi-SUN is not just a network. It is the brain of the cities we all were dreaming about.
