Tutorial Wi SUN FAN

Tutorial: Wi-SUN FAN

What it is. Wi-SUN FAN (Field Area Network) is a smart-utility mesh network used for smart meters and street lights, based on IEEE 802.15.4g FSK at 50, 100 and 150 kbit/s, with band plans for every Wi-SUN region from 470 MHz to 2.4 GHz. The nodes hop across all channels, so OnAir watches a whole band at once when the radio is fast enough, and shows networks, nodes and links.

Read this first. Receive only. OnAir never transmits, joins or answers a network. PAN configurations and data are encrypted and stay encrypted. These are utility networks; do not publish node identifiers. Check your local rules. See Legal and Privacy.

What you need

• A fast radio to cover a whole band: the mode asks for 20 Msps (the mode table covers 470 to 2484 MHz), needs 16 Msps or more for the whole 915 to 928 MHz band, and works from 2 Msps for a few channels. A HackRF, PlutoSDR, LimeSDR or BladeRF is the usual choice; an RTL-SDR sees a few channels only.
• An antenna for your band.
• Frequencies from the database: 921.5 MHz (Wi-SUN FAN ANZ band centre; the mode start) and 868.1 MHz (Wi-SUN FAN EU). The Band plan list holds the plans of the regions.

Before you start

Because nodes hop over every channel, a narrow capture misses most of their frames. A wide capture centred on the band gives the best picture. Keep gain moderate, and expect high CPU at 20 Msps.

Step by step

1. In the mode list open IoT & sensors and choose IoT, sub-GHz (shared label; the Wi-SUN panel has Band plan, Networks and Frames, check the panel).
2. Pick the radio and start the receiver at a high rate.
3. Choose the Band plan: automatic: by the frequency uses ANZ from 914.5 MHz up to 929 MHz, North America below that, Europe at 863 to 876 MHz, China at 470 to 510 and 779 to 787 MHz and the worldwide band at 2.4 GHz; any other region can be chosen by name. Centre on band centres the capture on the plan.
4. Check Span, which says what share of the channels is covered, for example "covers x - y MHz, n of N channels".
5. Open the views for networks, nodes, links and frames.

What you should see

Networks with their name and border router, nodes with vendor, role, routing cost and schedules, links with the levels the acknowledgements report, a frame log and a hop chart.

Reading the screen

• Networks: Network name, PAN ID, Border router, size, and the Wi-SUN FAN version (1.0 or 1.1) in a tooltip. Click to show only that network's nodes and frames.
• Nodes: EUI-64, Vendor, Role, Cost, Schedule, Hops, Level, Last seen.
• Links: From, To, RSL and Acks: unicast frames from one node to another, and the enhanced acks coming back with the level the receiving node measured.
• Frames: Time UTC, Type, Ch, Source > destination, Size, with the information elements in a tooltip; a hop chart coloured by frame type.

Options and settings

Filters (addressed only), colour by frame type, Clear, Copy.

Troubleshooting

• Very few frames. Capture is too narrow for the hopping. Use a faster rate.
• Network without name. Its advertisements were missed.
• CPU too high. Reduce the rate and cover fewer channels.
• Wrong region. Pick the band plan by name rather than automatic.

Tips

Utility networks beacon regularly, so a few minutes with a wide capture lists most nodes nearby.

Legal and privacy notes

Passive only. Keys are not obtainable here and OnAir does not try.

Under the hood

IEEE 802.15.4g FSK, Wi-SUN FAN profile with frequency hopping and unicast, broadcast schedules and information elements; networks are identified by the PAN-IE and the network name IE.

Related

Mode-Wi-SUN-FAN, Tutorial-Zigbee-802-15-4, Tutorial-Wi-Fi-HaLow-802-11ah, Tutorial-LoRaWAN, Modes, Main-window, Supported-radios, Troubleshooting, FAQ, Legal.