User's Manual

Understanding Silver Spring Networks Access Points 1 About Access Points
Understanding Silver Spring Networks Access Points 4 March 2013 Silver Spring Networks 12
thismessagetotheoperator.Sparepre‐configuredAccessPointsarekeptonhand,andare
scheduledfornetworkinsertionwithintheutilitiesworkordermanagementsystem.Within
NEM,GridScape,orHCM,thefailedAccessPointisflaggedforRMA,andthedeviceis
replaced.
Surge Protection
APscomplywithupto20kVforcombinationwaveandupto6kVforringwaves(reflectsthe
currentEthernetAPandprojectedassembly.)
Redundant WAN Option
WANredundancyisinherenttotheroutedMeshbeingofferedbySilverSpringNetworks.
AccessPointshavetheabilitytoidentifyWANoutagesandforwardtraffictosecondary
AccessPointsthroughtheir902‐928FHSSinterface.Thereisnodowntimerealizedandas
routestotheWANbecomeunavailable,thoseroutes
ageoutoftheroutetablesofadjacent
nodesaswouldbeexpectedinafull‐meshnetworkthatcontinuouslyupdatesnodequeues
androutetables.WhenanAPbecomesunavailable,theroutedMeshdynamically
reconfigurestoavailableAPs.WhentheAPcomesbackonline,theroutedMeshdynamically
reconfigures
toincludetheAPintheMeshnetwork.
ItisthesuggestionofSilverSpringthatmultiplecellularcarriersbespreadacrossthe
territorytoreducetheimpactofawidescalecellularoutage.Inaddition,theco‐minglingof
privatebackhaulsuchasprivatenetworkfoundwithinsubstationsisalso
anoption.The
SilverSpringNetworksAccessPointcanusepublicorprivatebackhaultechnologiesto
communicatetothehostsystem(UtilityIQ,GridScape,orHCM)attheUtilityheadend.An
APcanhaveacellularmodem(suchasthoseapprovedforuseonCDMAorGeneralPacket
RadioService(GPRS)
systemsfromSprint,AT&T,Telusorothercarrier)oranybroadband
technologythatisEthernet/IPcompatible(suchasWi‐Fi,fiber,privatemicrowaveor
WiMAX).CurrentSilverSpiringcustomersareusingcellularmodems,fiberbackhaul,and
privatelicensedandunlicensedwirelessbackhaultechnologies.Additionally,some
customersarecurrentlyexperimentingwith
satellitebackhaulconnectionsandwillbe
deployingthistechnologywhereneeded.
Mounting Options
TheAccessPointscanbemountedonautilitypoleorlightpole.Thecanbepadmountedas
wellaswallmounted.(Foradditionalinformation,refertotheSilverSpringNetworks
InfrastructureHardwareGuide.)SilverSpringrecommendsthattheunitsbemountedata
heightof7to9
meters.
WAN Options
AnyWANbackhaulthatcaninterfacewiththeAccessPoint’sEthernetportandprovide
IPv4connectivitytotheHESwithaminimumof40kbpscanbeusedasbackhaul.
Customershaveusedthefollowingalternativebackhaultechnologies:
• DistributionSubstationBackhaul(forexample,fiber)
• WiMAX
• SatelliteRadios