Project Analog - January 2008 - (Page 8) Wireless sensor networks jump into the market Users now have many options from building their own systems with off-the-shelf components to simple plug-and-play By Richard Comerford Electronic Products Editor—Sensors & Transducers Contents Viewpoint Wireless sensor networks Temperature sensing technology Analog news I n theory, wireless sensor networking has always made sense: it lets you put a sensor anywhere without the hassle and cost of running wires all over. But as with many good ideas, the devil has been in the details figuring out how to make things work reliably for long periods. With years of hard work, engineers cast out the devils to produce practical components and systems that now work reliably in the field. And while standards to promote consistency among multiple vendors now exist, there are also proprietary wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that fit apps in skyscrapers, factories, farms, and everything in between. icS and coMPonentS A major impetus to the introduction of new components for implementing WSNs was the finalization, in December 2006, of the ZigBee Alliance’s specification for a low-cost, low-power, two-way wireless communications protocol. This enabled vendors to integrate all the WSN components needed in a single chip. Freescale Semiconductor (Tempe, AZ) launched the MC1322X ZigBee Platform in a Package, reducing the number of ICs needed to implement a ZigBee connection from more than a dozen to one. The chip’s low power consumption supports 20-year battery life. A proprietary wireless sensor networking has always made sense: it lets you put a sensor anywhere without the hassle and cost of running wires all over. Microchip analog page Thermal management overview Sample center microchipDIRECT Reference designs/ app notes Technical training 8 · projeCt analog · jan 08 http://www.microchip.com http://www.microchip.com/analog http://www.microchip.com/analog http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2543¶m=en021419&pageId=79 http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2543¶m=en021419&pageId=79 http://sample.microchip.com/Default.aspx?testCookies=true http://www.microchipdirect.com/catalogselection.aspx?returnURL=default.aspx http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1469&filter1=function&redirects=appnotes http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1469&filter1=function&redirects=appnotes http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1423
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