User's Manual

Understanding Silver Spring Networks Access Points 1 About Access Points
Understanding Silver Spring Networks Access Points Rev 3 22 January 2013 Silver Spring Networks 4
1 About Access Points
Overview
The Silver Spring Access Point (AP) provides the central link between endpoint devices and
network control and monitoring. It is the connectivity between intelligent endpoints and the
utility’s back office. Its flexible communication features extend the reach and coverage of the
network to thousands of customer premises, through scalability that lowers ownership costs.
Since it has a backup battery, the AP can reliably route scheduled read and management
tasks, even during an outage. Figure 1 illustrates how APs connect endpoints to the utility
back office (UtilityIQ data centers).
The Access Point can be mounted on power poles or street lamps. All outbound
communications (requests for data) pass through the AP. All inbound data packets (data,
alarms) pass through the AP.
The AP can serve as the take-out point for network management traffic in a stand-alone
communication network (or also for Advanced Metering Infrastructure—AMI, Distribution
Automation—DA, or HAN Communications Manager (HCM)—HCM traffic in a joint
AMI/DA/HCM installation). In certain cases, the AP can be the take-out point for traffic.
It is worth noting that the Silver Spring architecture differs from most others in that the AP is
not what utility companies typically call a collector or concentrator—it is a router. This
means that memory limits and data vulnerability issues typical of “collector” architecture are
eliminated resulting in a more robust, scalable, simpler and higher performance network.
The Access Point comes with a 902-928 MHz-based radio Neighborhood Area Network (or
NAN) interface which can be configured with any cellular technology (for example, Code
Figure 1. The AP in the network