Wi-Fi Alliance hosts Wi-Fi/ZigBee interop demo

Wi-Fi appears ready to edge further into the home automation market, as the Wi-Fi Alliance this week hosted a public demonstration of interoperability between Wi-Fi devices and ZigBee-enabled smart energy meters.

The demonstration, which took place at the DistribuTECH 2012 event in San Antonio, is the latest step in promoting Smart Energy Profile (SEP) 2.0.

The multi-vendor demonstration established Wi-Fi device connectivity to both Wi-Fi and ZigBee meters, reportedly the first time that a mixed technology set-up has been publicly demonstrated. The interoperability event included eight vendors: Aclara, Broadcom, Elbrys Networks, Gainspan, Grid2Home, Intwine Energy Networks, Qualcomm Atheros and Texas Instruments.

ZigBee has been around for years, and has long been position for smart energy management and other home automation functions. Though Wi-Fi has been working its way from routers into TVs, set-top boxes and other household gadgets, it was not seen as much of a smart energy option until last summer, when the Wi-Fi Alliance held its own Smart Energy Forum.

The Wi-Fi Alliance said it is now working to develop a certification program for SEP 2.0 products.

For more:
- here's the WiFi Alliance press release

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