SmartSynch promises "universal" connections for the smart grid
Sometimes it seems like there are a bazillion different smart grid projects and pilots going on. Which leads me to ask: How will all this stuff talk to each other?
Apparently, SmartSynch has also been pondering this question. The company is introducing something called the GridRouter, which is being billed as a "universal" smart grid device that will help connect devices across various smart grid infrastructures regardless of who makes it or what communications protocol it uses. The company is pitching the technology as a sort of "Rosetta Stone" that helps devices talk to each other, and says it could help would-be competitors collaborate. In the press release, SmartSynch CEO Stephen Johnston says:
"The GridRouter actually transforms collaboration into competition and facilitates an ecosystem of innovation in which multiple companies can provide value to utilities."
How can it do this? GridRouter is IP-enabled, and operates like pretty much any other IP device you would stick on a network such as a copier or facsimile machine. It it can be managed via network management tools that are already broadly available, and it is field-upgradable, meaning that a utility using the device can add new communications technologies as they become available without having to rip and replace their backbone.
