Release Notes for Cisco Resilient Mesh Release 6.0
These release notes contain the latest information about using Cisco Resilient Mesh (formerly known as CG-Mesh) with IPv6 Resilient Mesh Endpoints (RMEs) such as meters and the Cisco IR500 Series WPAN Gateway Range Extenders.
Cisco Resilient Mesh is an embedded network stack for Smart Grid assets within a Neighborhood Area Network. Cisco Resilient Mesh provides end-to-end IPv6 communication and implements open-standard protocols at every layer in the network stack, including but not limited to IEEE 802.15.4e/g, 6LoWPAN, IPv6, RPL, UDP, and CoAP. In Smart Grid assets such as residential electric meters, the Cisco Resilient Mesh software functions within a dedicated Communications Module that connects to an Application Module through a PPP link.
![]() Note |
For a detailed description of the Cisco Resilient Mesh software in Release 6.0, refer to Cisco Connected Grid WPAN Module for CGR 1000 Series Installation and Cisco Resilient Mesh Configuration Guide. |
New Features for This Release
The following table lists the enhancements specific to this release.
Platform |
Enhancement |
Description |
First Cisco IOS/CG-OS Release that Supports the Feature |
---|---|---|---|
IR510 IR530 |
Field Troubleshooting Support |
Support for noise measurement/read, Link quality test between two nodes, and notch of high noise/interference channels on specified nodes. |
15.8(3)M |
IR510 IR530 |
Parent Selection enhancement |
Support to switch between two ETX calculation algorithms for parent selection. |
15.8(3)M |
IR510 IR530 |
Adaptive Modulation enhancement |
Support for self-adapting data rates based on the channel condition. |
15.8(3)M |
IR510 |
Access control list support |
Support for Access Control based on MAC/IP. Support to send syslog to FND if there is an access violation. |
15.8(3)M |
IR510 |
IR510 GPS |
Support to report GPS location while register to FND for IR510. |
15.8(3)M |
IR510 IR530 |
MAC layer QoS |
Support for MAC layer QoS on IR510 and IR530. |
15.8(3)M |
IR510 IR530 |
Enhanced firmware download |
Firmware download with MPL (RFC 7731). |
15.8(3)M |
CGR WPAN |
CGR High Availability |
Provide chassis-based and module based HA for the FAN solution. |
15.8(3)M |
OFDM WPAN |
OFDM WPAN backward compatible with FSK mesh |
Enable FSK mode on OFDM WPAN to support 5.6 end points. |
15.8(3)M |
All platforms |
CoAP IETF RFC7252 Compliance |
Update CoAP implementation of CSMP from CoAP draft to RFC7252. Resilient Mesh Release 6.0 requires FND Release 4.3 and later for this enhancement. |
15.8(3)M |
System Requirements
If you plan to run Cisco Resilient Mesh Release 6.0, you must have the following required hardware and software components:
Platform |
Minimum Cisco IOS/CG-OS Software Release Required |
---|---|
Cisco 1000 Series Connected Grid Router |
Cisco IOS Release 15.8(3)M |
Cisco IR530 |
cg-mesh-node-6.0-6019-ir530-7bee575.bin |
Cisco IR529 |
cg-mesh-node-6.0-6019-ir529-7bee575.bin |
Cisco IR510 |
cg-mesh-dagw-6.0-6019-ir510-7bee575.bin |
Cisco IR509 |
cg-mesh-dagw-6.0-6019-ir509-7bee575.bin |
WPAN module (CGM-WPAN-FSK-NA) |
cg-mesh-bridge-ITRDPKG-6.0-6019-itron30-7bee575.bin |
OFDM WPAN (CGM-WPAN-OFDM-FCC) |
cg-mesh-bridge-6.0-6019-ir510-7bee575.bin |
IoT Field Network Director |
Release 4.3 |
IOX |
AC8 |
Supported Software Features
This section covers the supported software features.
Compromised Node Eviction
A compromised node is one where the device can no longer be trusted by the network and/or operators. Nodes within an IEEE 802.15.4 PAN must possess the currently valid Group Temporal Key (GTK) to send and receive link-layer messages. The GTK is shared among all devices within the PAN and is refreshed periodically or on-demand. By communicating new GTKs to only trusted devices, compromised nodes may be evicted from the network.
RPL
In its route-over architecture, Cisco Resilient Mesh performs routing at the network layer using the Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL).
Cisco Resilient Mesh requires a Cisco 1000 Series Connected Grid Router (CGR) to provide connectivity to other IPv6 networks. The CGR (Field Area Router (FAR)) must serve as a RPL Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) root and store information reported in DAO messages to forward datagrams to individual nodes within the mesh network.
6LoWPAN
The 6LoWPAN adaptation layer adapts IPv6 to operate efficiently over low-power and lossy links such as IEEE 802.15.4. The adaptation layer sits between the IPv6 and IEEE 802.15.4 layers and provides IPv6 header compression, IPv6 datagram fragmentation, and optimized IPv6 Neighbor Discovery.
Frequency Hopping
Cisco Resilient Mesh implements frequency hopping across 64 channels with 400-kHz spacing in the 902 to 928 MHz ISM band. The frequency-hopping protocol used by Cisco Resilient Mesh maximizes the use of the available spectrum by allowing multiple sender-receiver pairs to communicate simultaneously on different channels. The frequency hopping protocol also mitigates the negative effects of narrowband interferers.
![]() Note |
For IR510 and IR530 endpoints, high data rates 800kHz with 31 channels are also supported. |
Firmware Upgrade Procedure
The Cisco Resilient Mesh bridge firmware can be installed by CLI or from IoT FND.
For more information on upgrading the firmware, see the latest Release Notes for Cisco 1000 Series Connected Grid Routers for Cisco IOS Release at: www.cisco.com/go/cgr1000-docs.
FND Configuration
Cisco Resilient Mesh solution is managed and monitored by the Cisco IoT Field Network Director (FND), which provides the necessary backend network configuration, monitoring, event notification services, network stack firmware upgrade, as well as FND outage and meter registration. IoT FND also retrieves statistics on network traffic from the interface.
![]() Note |
For a detailed description on the Cisco Resilient Mesh CLI, refer to Cisco Connected Grid WPAN Module for CGR 1000 Series Installation and Cisco Resilient Mesh Configuration Guide (Cisco IOS). |
![]() Note |
IR510 and IR530 will be supported only with FND Release 4.1 or greater. Refer to the Cisco IoT Field Network Director User Guides for details. |
CoAP Simple Management Protocol
Cisco Resilient Mesh implements the CoAP Simple Management Protocol (CSMP) for remote configuration, monitoring, and event generation over the IPv6 network. The CSMP service is exposed over both the mesh and serial interfaces.
Power-outage Notification
Cisco Resilient Mesh supports timely and efficient reporting of power outages and restorations.
In the event of a power outage, Cisco Resilient Mesh enters power-outage notification mode and the node stops listening for traffic to conserve energy. Cisco Resilient Mesh triggers functions to conserve energy by notifying the communication module and neighboring nodes of the outage. The outage notification is sent using the same security settings as any other UDP/IPv6 datagram transmission.
In the event of a power restoration, a Cisco Resilient Mesh node sends a restoration notification using the same communication method as the outage notification. The communication modules unaffected by the power outage event deliver the restoration notification.
Registration of Endpoint
You can register and manage Cisco Resilient Mesh Endpoints (RMEs) such as (meters) using the CSMP protocol.
Limitations and Restrictions
Cisco recommends that you review this section before you begin working with the module. These are known limitations that will not be fixed, and there is not always a workaround for these issues. Some features might not work as documented, and some features might be affected by recent changes to the CG-OS router hardware or software.
-
CSCub49104
Symptom: Output from show mesh-security session all does not show all current mesh security sessions.
Conditions: This issue occurs in the output of the show mesh-security session all command.
Workaround: To find out the mesh-key status of a meter, use the show mesh-security session mac <mac-address> command.
Caveats
This section addresses the Open and Resolved caveats that are relevant to Cisco Resilient Mesh. This section also provides information on how to use the Bug Tool Kit to find further details on the caveats.
Open Caveats
This section summarizes open caveats to the Cisco Resilient Mesh.
-
CSCvg11696
Symptom: IR510: IPv6 Ethernet address is shown as lowpan address.
Workaround: When configuring FND global IPv6 address, the address-match-length of FND and node's lowpan address should be greater than that of FND and node's Ethernet address.
-
CSCvg13367
Symptom: Node could not display more than 13 PLC hardware link neighbors in TLV95.
Condition: Because the limitation of CSMP packet size, one packet can only hold 13 PLC neighbor information.
-
CSCvk44604
Symptom: Node detaches to its parents in adaptive mode when average resend times larger than four.
Condition: This occurs when adaptive modulation is enabled with IR510 or IR530.
Workaround: Make the signal good or avoid heavy traffic congestion, and node will restore to its parents.
Resolved Caveats
This section summarizes resolved caveats to the Cisco Resilient Mesh.
-
CSCvf50506
IR510: Node fast reform online with backup parent takes more than 20 mins.
-
CSCvf78106
IR510: Node switch parent frequently on OTA testbed.
-
CSCvg87873
1/1000 Duplicated Packets on PLC media when node have only one parent.
-
CSCvh03696
Node probably fails to sync with bcast schedule in master-slave mode.
Accessing Bug Search Tool
You can use the Bug Search Tool to find information about caveats for this release, including a description of the problems and available workarounds. The Bug Search Tool lists both open and resolved caveats.
To access Bug Search Tool, you need the following items:
-
Internet connection
-
Web browser
-
Cisco.com user ID and password
To access the Bug Search Tool, enter the following URL:
Accessing Error Message Decoder
You can look up explanations for console error message strings found in system logs at the following location:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/support/tsd_most_requested_tools.html
Feature History
Feature |
Cisco IOS/CG-OS Release |
Feature information |
---|---|---|
Cisco Resilient Mesh firmware 6.0 |
Cisco IOS Release 15.8(3)M |
Cisco Resilient Mesh enhancement. |
Related Documentation
Consult the following resources for related information about the Connected Grid WPAN Module for technical assistance.
Hardware Overview and Installation
-
IR510 WPAN Gateway and IR530 WPAN Range Extender Hardware Installation Guide
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/routers/ir510-ir530/hig/ir5X0_wpan_HIG.html
-
Cisco CG-OS Release Notes for CGR 1000
-
Cisco Connected Grid Module Guides
-
Cisco CGR 1240 Hardware Installation Guide
-
Cisco CGR 1120 Hardware Installation Guide
Supported Cisco Antennas and Accessories
Cisco CGR 1000 and 2000 Series Connected Grid Antennas Guides
Regulatory Compliance and Safety Information
Cisco Network Modules and Interface Cards Regulatory Compliance and Safety Information
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/routers/access/interfaces/rcsi/IOHrcsi.html