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Governments and industry leaders are coming together with newfound urgency to drive an
overhaul of grid infrastructure and according to a new report from Pike Research, these
efforts will yield cumulative global spending of $200 billion on Smart Grid technologies
during the period from 2008 to 2015.”
As a leader in “Digital Home” technologies, Embedded Automation has developed products
to connect homes to the investments being made on the grid infrastructure.
We’ve already showcased our support for these technologies in innovative eco-friendly
projects like the West House (shown during the 2010 Winter Olympics) and the Solar Decathlon.
To help bring the smart grid to the home, we’re proud to introduce the mStation and
mBee products, which are the newest members of the mHome product family. Together they
tie homes to the “smart grid” and empower home owners to optimize power usage.
Very simply, Embedded Automation’s mStation is your bridge to the “smart grid”
To make this happen, mStation talks to both the “smart grid” network and the “Home
Area Network” or HAN. The HAN is the network that connects the “power smart” devices
within the home. And of course, mStation is already a part of your home’s computer network.
mStation is an easy to install, easy to maintain in-premise platform.
Inside the mStation, we use Embedded Automation’s other new product, the mBee modules.
These modules use ZigBee wireless technology to communicate with smart grid devices, such
as smart meters and Home Area Network devices, like lighting systems, thermostats and audio/visual
components.
The mBee modules are based on widely-adopted standards,
like the ZigBee profile for Smart Energy devices.
These standards form the foundation for the Smart Grid and digital home control
But mBee modules aren’t just for use within the mStation.
Using the software and tools provided as part of the mBee solution, mBee modules can be
integrated into other applications and devices –
so that the devices can quickly become a part of the smart grid and digital home eco-system.
For your everyday use, mStation and mBee make it easy to view and manage your power usage.
Let’s take a look underneath the hood and how Embedded Automation’s engineering team
made this possible
First, we need to connect to a smart meter, typically using the ZigBee Smart Energy standard.
We can manage and configure our connection to the ZigBee network, using the mBee module’s
utility software.
Or we use the mBee Smart Energy driver within the mStation.
The mBee utility is a convenient software tool to help manage ZigBee network connections.
Built on top of our mBee ZigBee library, the utility provides tools to configure the connection,
join the network, discover network information and send/receive ZigBee messages.
mBee utility also provides tools for working with the Smart Energy profile – including
secure access and viewing smart meter data.
The mBee software utility and library are available for mBee module customers.
For most users, you’ll be using mBee SE driver built-in the mStation.
The driver provides mechanisms to load Smart Energy network credentials assigned by your
utility and then connect automatically to your smart meter.
Once connected, using your browser, you can now access the mStation software, called mControl,
to view and act on the information received from your smart meter.
Using other drivers, this information can be pushed to other locations – including
internet cloud-based databases.
Now let’s close the hood and see it working. mStation, powered by mControl software, can
be used to see the information anywhere,
including your phone …
Or your TV …
mStation can connect with other energy saving systems to help bring your eco-friendly ideas
together in one package.
The mStation platform and mBee modules – bringing the intelligence of the smart grid
to your home.
For more information, please contact Embedded Automation.