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Tropos Networks (News - Alert), a provider of reliable private wireless IP broadband networks for the Smart Grid and other large-scale, outdoor industrial applications, has announced Tropos Mesh OS Release 7.7.

Officials with Tropos Networks said that this new release of the IP communications company’s embedded mesh operating system provides the industry's first Internet Protocol Security (IPsec)-based solution to extend secure wireless Smart Grid communications through substations to distribution automation endpoints such as recloser, capacitor bank and voltage regulator controllers.

Company officials said that IPsec support enables Tropos GridCom field area networks to extend North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC (News - Alert)) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) compliant security from a utility's data centers, through substations, to the wired interfaces of Tropos mesh routers that connect distribution automation endpoints to the network. IPsec effectively secures distribution automation endpoints, including legacy devices that lack native security capabilities.

This capability, company officials pointed out, enables secure implementation of distribution automation applications such as conservation voltage reduction, automatic feeder reconfiguration and dynamic Volt/VAR control.

Based on open standards, IPsec provides an interoperable method for hosts and security gateways from different vendors to create secure, end-to-end network connections.

According to company officials, by incorporating IPsec into Tropos Mesh OS Release 7.7, Tropos brings this time-tested technology to the Smart Grid, introducing enterprise-class security to utilities' field area networks.

"Tropos' IPsec support extends enterprise-class security into the utility distribution network, securing Smart Grid devices and applications," said Brian Moccia, AMI technology manager for DTE Energy, in a statement.

Moccia said that it offers an open standards-based solution for extending secure wireless communications networks beyond substations, to devices such as such as switches, sectionalizers, reclosers and capacitor banks located on distribution feeders.

"Tropos Mesh OS Release 7.7 makes it easier for utilities to meet and exceed cyber security requirements," said Roman Arutyunov, vice president of product development for Tropos Networks.

Arutyunov said that Tropos customers can quickly and simply secure their networks by configuring any Tropos mesh router to function as an industry-standard VPN endpoint.

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