WSN Buzz
Fresh updates on wireless networks standards and new technologies
Archive for Uncategorized
September 5, 2010 at 11:21 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Cisco today announced its intent to acquire privately held Arch Rock Corporation, a pioneer in Internet Protocol-based wireless network technology for smart-grid applications. Based in San Francisco, Arch Rock will accelerate Cisco’s ability to facilitate the utility industry’s transition to an open and interoperable smart grid by enabling Cisco to offer a comprehensive and highly secure advanced metering infrastructure solution that is fully IP and open-standards based.
“Arch Rock’s wireless mesh technology enhances Cisco’s IP-based, end-to-end smart-grid offerings,” said Laura Ipsen, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Smart Grid business unit. “This acquisition further positions Cisco as a strategic partner to utilities working to better manage power supply and demand, improve the security and reliability of energy delivery, and optimize operational costs.”
More here.
September 2, 2010 at 2:24 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
CLARITY researchers (Matt Patterson, Declan Delaney and Anthony Schoofs) are embarking on an adventure of a life-time – driving a rickshaw well over 2,000km across Nepal and India to raise money for the Maiti Nepal charity (donations for the team can be made here). The Rickshaw Run is a race with over 60 other teams and starts at the beginning of September 2010.
They are going to be using the Rickshaw Run as a laboratory for SenseCam research. The Microsoft Research SenseCam is a small device worn around the neck that measures temperature, movement and takes photo’s intermittently. Researchers within CLARITY are currently using it with patients who have memory loss as a way to rehabilitate their memory.
The Sensecam will be used to automatically provide updates to the team blog. In the end this will be a useful tool for somebody who goes on a trip and wants to let family and friends see what they are up to, but doesn’t know how to upload photos off a camera and onto the web. They could use a SenseCam and have it all automatically taken care of.
More information on the CLARITY Centre team working on SenseCam can be found here: http://www.cdvp.dcu.ie/SenseCam/
September 2, 2010 at 2:19 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Perytons LTD., a leading provider of analyzers for standard and proprietary communication protocols, announced today the availability of a new version of its ZigBee protocol analyzer with extended hardware support.
The new version uses a variety of USB transceivers, as ZigBee/802.15.4/6LowPAN capture front-end devices, made by leading companies. The newly supported hardware includes Freescale, OKI, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, and Adaptive Network Solutions. Perytons is in the process of supporting additional hardware vendors. Users can now select any of these commercially available devices to capture and analyze networks and protocols such as ZigBee Smart Energy, Home Automation, Health Care, Telecom Application, ZigBee RF4CE, 6LoWPAN and proprietary protocols based on the IEEE 802.15.4. Most dongle types can be also used for Perytons advanced features, such as antenna diversity and simultaneous multi-channel capture
More here.
September 2, 2010 at 2:14 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
In data centers, avoiding downtime is key. Temperature and humidity fluctuations, hot spots, and other environmental factors can wreak havoc on server hardware and cause costly outages. Additionally, increased power usage not only leads to higher operating costs but can be an indication of an imminent issue.
Good airflow is vitally important and must be monitored to ensure air exchange is handled properly, and of course flooding or wetness in a data center could be disastrous.
Nick Larkin of Sensicast Systems has written recently on some best practices for data center temperature monitoring using wireless sensor networks. According to him, these tools “can be deployed in data centers, providing environmental data and alerts, reducing costs, and ensuring server uptime.”
More here.
September 1, 2010 at 10:28 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Does the home need another screen for managing electricity? A number of smart-grid technology companies are developing dedicated energy dashboards that tell people how much electricity they are using, program heating and cooling, or that reflect changing electricity prices. But a home energy display is just one approach to making people’s homes greener with technology, a field that is attracting everybody from computer technology companies and manufacturers of appliances and electric vehicles.
More here.
September 1, 2010 at 10:27 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The transmission networks spanning nations to provide light, heat and electricity will soon undergo a radical transformation. Most of the world’s developed countries have invested in or plan to invest huge sums to implement smart energy infrastructures within the next two decades. The smart grid will revolutionize the way utilities and consumers measure and monitor electricity usage. This effort is expected to save money and aid energy conservation. But the grid will also result in the creation of massive amounts of new data, data that can reveal intimate details about households and the people who live in them. The risk of exposure or misuse of such data creates a new set of concerns for consumers and privacy professionals.
More here.
September 1, 2010 at 10:25 am · Filed under Uncategorized
IP Smart Objects are being deployed in a variety of machine to machine (M2M) systems. Application areas such as industrial control, process automation, and commercial building control are moving away from closed proprietary protocols to embrace open international standards such as the Internet Protocol (IP). Now the U.S. Smart Grid has adopted IP to interconnect smart energy components such as smart meters and thermostats, which will amount to 300–500 million devices.
More here.
August 27, 2010 at 9:15 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Salt Lake City UT, USA – Monnit Corporation introduces a low cost wireless temperature sensor along with nine other types of wireless sensors. The sensors currently use a USB receiver at the computer level to transmit all of the sensor data to your choice of either the MonnitSphere™ Online Monitoring Service or the MonnitSphere™ Local PC computer application. The sensor data is then checked against user defined thresholds to determine if a notification should be sent to the user via email or SMS text message.
- The sensors operate at 900MHz (25 Channels) and provide a reliable operating range of approximately 1000 feet depending on the environment.
- Powered by a Lithium Ion 3V battery the sensors have a lifespan of approximately 4 years when set to a heartbeat of 2 hours. (The sensors hold user defined threshold values and can be set to check against those value as often as desired, and will bypass heartbeat settings to communicate if and when thresholds have been met or exceeded.)
- The sensors have a small footprint (1 in. by 1 in.) and are ideal for embedded applications.
- The wireless temperature sensor is accurate to +/- 0.5°C (1°F) with an operating range of -40°C to +125°C.
Monnit Corporation provides both OEM and finished products along with the software for customizing the sensor parameters and storing the sensor data. Typical deployments include Hotel Management, Building Operations, Facilities Maintenance, HVAC Monitoring, Food Services and Property Management.
Monnit Corporation
7304 South Cottonwood
Suite 204
Midvale, UT 84047
Tel: 801-561-5555
Fax: 801-561-5575
Email: info@monnit.com
Web: www.monnit.com
August 25, 2010 at 8:31 am · Filed under Uncategorized
As we pointed out in a recent report, a dozen or so startups now dominate the big, untapped smart lighting controls market, with the best likely to become acquisition targets for building controls incumbents, such as Honeywell or Johnson Controls. But stealthy startup Daintree Networks wants to take a slightly different tack: deliver ZigBee-based, interoperable lighting controls to market by partnering directly with the incumbents. Will the big boys be interested?
More here.
August 23, 2010 at 1:02 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Citing the need to provide security for the growing Internet of Things, chip maker Intel has entered an agreement to purchase cyber security company McAfee for $7.68 billion. According to the press release issued by Intel: “Today’s security approach does not fully address the billions of new Internet-ready devices connecting, including mobile and wireless devices, TVs, cars, medical devices and ATM machines as well as the accompanying surge in cyber threats.”
More here.
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