Researchers at Kyoto University have developed a unified firmware that allows two different international wireless standards to operate on a single hardware device, potentially reducing the cost of smart city infrastructure.

The research group, led by Professor Hiroshi Harada, successfully integrated Wi-SUN Enhanced HAN, used for indoor smart meters, with Wi-SUN FAN 1.1, a standard designed for large-scale outdoor sensor networks. The development was conducted in partnership with Nisshin Systems Inc.

The new firmware supports IEEE 802.15.4 protocols and IPv6 networking. It enables both one-to-many tree structures for utility reading and multi-hop mesh communication for wide-area urban monitoring. The system includes frequency hopping functions and integrated security authentication.

This commonality is expected to allow municipal authorities and utility companies to use the same wireless modules for both home energy management and city-wide IoT applications. The integration addresses the increasing need for seamless data collection from thousands of sensors installed across urban environments.

The research team plans to conduct large-scale evaluations of the firmware in various wireless modules. They also intend to promote the social implementation of the technology through the international Wi-SUN Alliance to support more efficient smart city operations.