The ZigBee® Alliance and the IPSO (IP for Smart Objects) Alliance announced an agreement to collaborate on wireless home area networks (HAN) using the ZigBee IP specification and the ZigBee Smart Energy™ version 2.0 standard. The two alliances will collaborate on expanding HANs by using IP technology. The ZigBee Alliance is a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, and the IPSO Alliance promotes the use of Internet Protocol (IP) in smart objects.

ZigBee Smart Energy is the market leading wireless HAN standard with more than 40 million smart meters being installed around the world. Common HAN devices include utility meters, thermostats, pool pumps, water heaters, appliances and plug-in electric vehicles. It was developed by industry leading utilities, suppliers and technology companies to connect those everyday household devices to the Smart Grid. Last year, it was selected by the US Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as an initial interoperable standard for HAN devices.

“Working with the IPSO Alliance will speed our development work on ZigBee Smart Energy,” said Bob Heile, Chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. “By using IP technology, ZigBee Smart Energy will give utilities more flexibility in future Smart Grid deployments.”

IPSO is the latest organization to collaborate on ZigBee Smart Energy. Four other organizations are working to expand this standard for HANs, including DLMS, EPRI, ESMIG and HomePlug Powerline Alliance.

“The IPSO Alliance is pleased to be working with the energy experts at the ZigBee Alliance on their industry leading standard for HANs,” said Geoff Mulligan, Chairman of the IPSO Alliance. “We have been playing an active role in this space and our contributions to ZigBee Smart Energy and the ZigBee IP specification will help speed adoption of the Smart Grid.”