WSN Buzz
Fresh updates on wireless networks standards and new technologies
Archive for April, 2010
April 28, 2010 at 9:25 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Cisco sees a $20 billion opportunity in the smart grid, and wants to deliver products and services that span the grid, from home and business energy management to a secure, IP-based network to control substations and distributed energy resources, says Earth2Tech.
Earth2Tech asked Cisco’s senior vice president of smart grid, Laura Ipsen, to explain the company’s view:
Q) Cisco said it planned to bring smart grid devices to market early this year, but we haven’t seen much yet. What can we expect from Cisco, and when, in terms of announcements across its smart grid target areas?
A) We’re pretty excited about how we’re going after this market. We have a build-by-partner model, and I think you’ll see some things soon. We have an engineering team coming out with product you’ll see coming out in late summer or early fall that we’re testing with customers now.
More here.
April 28, 2010 at 9:13 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Today from its annual All Hands Meeting in Seattle, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) unveiled more information about its forthcoming Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0, with the hallmark feature of low energy technology. Bluetooth v4.0, expected to be brought to market by the end of Q2, will feature a powerful low energy mode designed to enable expansion of the technology in m-health, sports and fitness, security and home entertainment scenarios where button-cell battery devices proliferate.
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Bluetooth v4.0 is like three specifications in one – Classic Bluetooth technology, Bluetooth low energy technology, and Bluetooth high speed technology– all which can be combined or used separately in different devices according to their functionality. For example, sensors like those in pedometers and glucose monitors will run only low energy technology, thus saving power, cost and space within the device. Watches will take advantage of both low energy technology while collecting data from fitness sensors on the body as well as Classic Bluetooth technology when sending that information to a PC, or separately displaying caller ID information when wirelessly connected to a mobile phone. Mobile phones and PCs, which support the widest range of uses, will utilize the full package with Classic, low energy and high speed technology running side by side.
More here.
April 28, 2010 at 9:11 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The news coming from PG&E these days is trending from bad to worse for the Smart Grid and for this country’s citizens.
First they created a public relations disaster with their smart meter rollout, which now has its own term called “the Bakersfield effect”. PG&E investment in a sensible communications plan and budget could have prevented this problem. The impacts of the Bakersfield effect are widespread. Smart meter rollouts in other utilities are delayed or postponed, and each setback hinders realization of their Smart Grid objectives.
Second, PG&E filed a tariff proposal that would reduce their current 5 tier electricity pricing structure to 3 tiers. Under the current structure, the more energy you use, the higher your rates. This provides financial incentives for Californians with high bills to seek solutions like solar panels or energy efficiency investments or simple energy conservation behaviors. The proposed flattening of this program rewards electricity guzzlers at the expense of energy-conscious consumers. It is akin to asking drivers of gas-sipping cars to subsidize the gas for Hummers. Solar companies are already on record stating that this tariff change, if approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, would remove financial incentives for many homeowners to add solar generation and thereby defeat two key Smart Grid objectives – increased renewable energy and more active consumer participation.
More here.
April 22, 2010 at 8:22 am · Filed under Uncategorized
This new web shop will be stocked with boards as well as other components such as sensors, discretes, and accessories. It targets wireless sensor networks developers who want to experiment with modular platforms with interchangeable radios, MCUs, sensors, and antennas.
FreakLabs Store.
April 21, 2010 at 5:29 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
There is a very interesting post from Akiba (Freaklabs), full of fruitful insights, about his experience in setting up a “one-person manufacturing operation” for his WSN shop. Greatly advised!
Link here.
April 15, 2010 at 1:19 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Intel will show off an experimental device this week in China that could someday substantially cut the costs of wiring homes and offices for energy efficiency, one more step in the company’s foray into energy.
The device is a server/sensor that monitors the power consumption of the various appliances in a home or small commercial building in real time. The device then sends the data, via Wi-Fi, to a phone, PC or a home energy management console, like the one Intel showed off at CES earlier this year.
“Turn-on and turn-off signatures are like fingerprints,” said Justin Rattner, Intel’s chief technology officer in an interview. “Compressors, motors, TVs, stereos — all of them have a unique signature. It is relatively easy to train the system to recognize these things.”
More here.
April 15, 2010 at 1:18 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Sensinode today announced that NanostackTM 2.0, the company’s standards compliant communications protocol stack for IP-enabled smart objects, has been licensed by Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI). This strategic collaboration will make Nanostack TM2.0 available to developers using TI’s low-power RF solutions in applications such as energy metering, lighting and building control systems.
Nanostack TM2.0 implements the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) 6LoWPAN specification (RFC4944) with key updates, which defines basic technology to transmit IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) packets for transmission over IEEE 802.15.4(g) wireless network devices. The Sensinode software stack features the industry’s smallest code footprint, requiring less than 32k of flash, extreme robustness and the potential to support customer applications on the same processor as the IP-network stack.
More here.
April 14, 2010 at 12:50 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The Department of Energy is announcing award selections for nearly $100 million for 54 smart grid workforce training programs that will help prepare the next generation of workers in the utility and electrical manufacturing industries.
These projects will leverage more than $95 million in funding from community colleges, universities, utilities and manufacturers to develop and implement training programs. The programs will train approximately 30,000 Americans to help modernize the nation’s electrical grid and implement smart grid technologies in communities across the country.
More here.
April 14, 2010 at 12:45 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Industrial manufacturing giant Cooper Industries PLC has acquired Germantown, Md.-based Eka Systems Inc., a maker of wireless smart meter equipment, and will integrate the business into the EAS group, the smart grid platform within Cooper’s Power Systems division in Waukesha.
Eka Systems manufactures radio frequency systems for smart grid communications applications used by utilities, including wireless meter reading, power outage detection and grid data tracking.
“This is the fourth acquisition we have made into our Energy Automation Solutions business and demonstrates Cooper’s ongoing commitment to being a market leader in utility automation,” said Kirk Hachigian, CEO of Cooper Industries, based in Dublin, Ireland.
More here.
April 12, 2010 at 9:23 am · Filed under Uncategorized
By Chuck Adams, president, IEEE Standards Association.
The development, launch and impact of the smart grid is headline news in many countries across the globe. But this begs the question: How is this really going to work? The truth is, in order for the smart grid to be successful there needs to be a set of well-established standards in place that all industries and organizations involved can utilize.
The effort to standardize the smart gird is an immense, global initiative crossing the public, private and corporate sectors. Standardizing the smart grid impacts all aspects of technology, ranging from consumer to commercial. Smart grid technologies have a bearing on appliances talking to one another, homes and offices talking to the utility companies, as well as regenerative power. Standards development work is imperative in the near term because it is bringing together communities and regulatory authorities to lay the foundation for the growth of the smart grid. We have one chance to bring everyone together to create a common point of entry and make this work.
More here.
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