All devices that operate in a ZigBee Smart Energy network must have a certificate installed that authenticates the device and allows it to securely join and communicate on the network. A certificate must be issued by the certificate authority (CA). Each certificate is tied to the 64-bit extended address of the device.
Currently there are two types of certificates issued by the CA.
*Production certificates are intended for use in deployed Smart Energy networks. Only devices which pass stringent testing and are officially certified may be configured with a production certificate.
*Test certificates may also be issued by the CA and are functionally equivalent to production certificates. However, a device configured with a test certificate will not be able to securely join and communicate on a production network. Test certificates are useful during development and test, for example when communicating with prototype devices that have not yet been certified, but should not be used in an actual deployment.
Standalone XBee modules, such as the XBP24-ZB and XBP24-SE, do not implement a specific Smart Energy device and so cannot be production certified directly but only as components in larger systems. In order for the standalone XBee to securely communicate on a Smart Energy network a test certificate will need to be obtained from a certificate authority and installed. Additional test certificates may also be necessary for other devices that are configured to join the Smart Energy network (you cannot mix test and production certficates on a Smart Energy network).
More details on certificates and how to program them onto modules can be found here:
https://digi-se.appspot.com/edocs/certificate/certificate.html#certificate