October 27, 2008: Hitachi Plant Technologies Ltd. has unveiled a wireless sensor designed for use in a broad range of commercial and industrial applications that uses ubiquitous, installed Wi-Fi infrastructure. This solution is based upon low-power Wi-Fi semiconductor and software provided by GainSpan allowing easy integration and deployment of Wi-Fi sensor network within an enterprise.
“We chose to use the highly optimized Wi-Fi SoC from GainSpan as it enables a long battery life while using existing Wireless LAN (WLAN) access points (AP) and IP (Internet Protocol) networking. This allows our sensors and tags to be used in the field for many years while simplifying deployment and integration with the enterprise networks,” commented Tsutomu Ito, senior manager, Hitachi Plant Technologies Ltd.
The new sensor module, ZigNET-TAGMO, is designed to support multiple sensors enabling a broad range of applications. For example, in food management industry, logistical traceability of food substances is paramount. When the sensor enters an area covered by WLAN AP, it transmits the data back to a food company’s servers for analysis, where information that can highlight potentially serious issues, such as refrigerator malfunctions, can be diagnosed early.
In asset tracking and logistics applications, when the ZigNET-TAGMO is installed on the target object, information about the environment during transportation, such as temperature and humidity, can be measured and transmitted via WLAN. If WLAN AP is not available, the obtained information is stored in built-in memory and transmitted when the object reenters an area covered by a WLAN AP again. The device can also issue an alarm signal if the value measured by sensor exceeds the predetermined value. For example, if temperature in the refrigerator becomes abnormally high during food delivery, the temperature sensor detects it and the alarm signal is sent via WLAN.
“Through the use of widely available Wi-Fi networks, the deployment of these sensor networks can be achieved on a world-wide level quicker and at a lower cost than through any other technology currently available on the market,” commented Vijay Parmer, GainSpan president and CEO.
With the adoption of GainSpan’s ultra low-power technology, ZigNET-TAGMO achieves a battery life of up to five years, in spite of using a small battery.