CY 2011 was a busy time for the MultiSpeak specification. In the last year we issued V4.1.3 and V4.1.4 of the specification. These release candidates were building up to the final release of V4.1, which will be V4.1.5 and is expected to be issued during January 2012. V4.1 includes many new features to support utility smart grid deployments including support for: in-home display messaging, home area network (HAN) devices, HAN-based demand response, and more complete support for pre-payment metering. One last release of V3.0 (V3.0, build ac) is also expected to be released during January 2012.

The MultiSpeak Technical Committee is continuing to enhance the specification and work has already begun on Version 4.2. Progress on the development of this new version can be found on the MultiSpeak members-only SharePoint site.

Another exciting addition to the specification is the continuing work on the MultiSpeak use case library. The library is a set of diagrams that show how common utility business processes are supported using MultiSpeak-defined web services. Each diagram is accompanied by detailed information on the underlying business process, assumptions about preconditions and information about the formatting of the data payload on each message. The following figure shows one of the nearly 200 use cases that have been added to the library; in this case the business process is the disconnection of a customer service using a remote connect/disconnect switch. The arrows represent messages between applications defined by MultiSpeak that support part of this business process.
 

Use cases can be used by utilities or vendors to design MultiSpeak interfaces. Use cases provide a means for vendors and utilities to clearly communicate the requirements for MultiSpeak interfaces. Access to the use case library is one of the benefits of membership in the MultiSpeak Initiative.

Most of the use cases developed to date document the AMI/MDM/Demand Response business processes, however, the MultiSpeak Technical Committee is continuing its intensive effort to document all of the capabilities included in the specification.

The use case library is available to MultiSpeak members on the members-only SharePoint site. Contact Gary McNaughton, MultiSpeak Technical Coordinator (gmcnaughton@MultiSpeak.org) if you have questions about this development, or if you wish to discuss membership in the effort.