Dust Networks
Encyclopedia
Dust Networks, Inc. is a company specializing in the design and manufacture of wireless sensor networks for industrial applications including process monitoring, condition monitoring
, asset management, Environment, Health and Safety
(EH & S) monitoring and power management
. They are headquartered in Hayward, California
.
Dust Networks works with industry and standards groups such as WirelessHART
, IETF, ISA, and WINA
to help drive the adoption of interoperable wireless sensor networking products.
, a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley
, conceived of and started the Smart Dust
project with DARPA funding.
The project led to the founding of Dust Networks, to provide commercial applications for industrial monitoring and control.
Dust implements full-mesh networks, sometimes referred to as ‘mesh-to-the-edge’, which provides redundant routing to the edge of the network. In a full-mesh network every device has the same routing capabilities and is able to ‘decide’ where it belongs in the routing structure based on what other nodes it can communicate with, its proximity to the network gateway, and its traffic load. This allows for self-forming and self-healing. The multi-chip modules used to drive these networks are divided into 'gateways' and 'motes' (or mote modules). Gateways then tie back into larger networks used to make decisions within large industrial plants (oil refineries, chemical plants, produce facilities, etc).
The company has evolved from using a proprietary protocol called TSMP
(Time Synchronized Mesh Protocol), to Wireless HART to launching an IP-based initiative, in support of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), focused on the use of Internet Protocol (IP) networking in urban infrastructure, building automation, utility metering, and other wireless sensor networking applications.
Condition monitoring
Condition monitoring is the process of monitoring a parameter of condition in machinery, such that a significant change is indicative of a developing failure. It is a major component of predictive maintenance. The use of conditional monitoring allows maintenance to be scheduled, or other actions...
, asset management, Environment, Health and Safety
Environment, Health and Safety
Environment, Health and Safety – also Safety, Health and Environment or HES or HSE – is often used as the name of a department in corporations and government agencies. The EHS guidelines were created by the International Finance Corporation in 1998...
(EH & S) monitoring and power management
Power management
Power management is a feature of some electrical appliances, especially copiers, computers and computer peripherals such as monitors and printers, that turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power state when inactive. In computing this is known as PC power management and is built...
. They are headquartered in Hayward, California
Hayward, California
Hayward is a city located in the East Bay in Alameda County, California. With a population of 144,186, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 37th most populous municipality in California. It is included in...
.
Dust Networks works with industry and standards groups such as WirelessHART
WirelessHART
WirelessHART is a wireless sensor networking technology based on the Highway Addressable Remote Transducer Protocol .-Description:The protocol utilizes a time synchronized, self-organizing, and self-healing mesh architecture...
, IETF, ISA, and WINA
WINA
The Wireless Industrial Networking Alliance is a coalition of industrial end-user companies, technology suppliers, industry organizations, software developers, system integrators, and others interested in the advancement of wireless solutions for industry....
to help drive the adoption of interoperable wireless sensor networking products.
Company history
In 1997, Kristofer S. J. PisterKristofer S. J. Pister
Kristofer S. J. Pister is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at University of California, Berkeley and the founder and CTO of Dust Networks...
, a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, conceived of and started the Smart Dust
Smartdust
Smartdust is a hypothetical system of many tiny microelectromechanical systems such as sensors, robots, or other devices, that can detect, for example, light, temperature, vibration, magnetism or chemicals; are usually networked wirelessly; and are distributed over some area to perform tasks,...
project with DARPA funding.
Smart Dust
The Smart Dust project attempted to demonstrate that a complete sensor/communication system could be integrated into a package one cubic millimeter in size. This involved advances in miniaturization, integration, and energy management. The project focus was independent of any particular sensor, and looked at both commercial and military applications including:- Defense-related sensor networks such as battlefield surveillance, treaty monitoring, transportation monitoring, and scud hunting.
- Virtual keyboard sensors: by attaching miniature remotes on each fingernail, accelerometers could then sense the orientation and motion of each fingertip, and communicate this data to a computer in a wristwatch.
- Inventory control: by placing miniature sensors on each object in the inventory system (product package, carton, pallet, truck warehouse, internet), each component could "talk" to the next component in the system. This evolved into today's RFID inventory control systems.
- Product quality monitoring: temperature and humidity monitoring of perishables such as meat, produce, and dairy.
- Impact, vibration and temperature monitoring of consumer electronics, for failure analysis and diagnostic information, e.g. monitoring the vibration of bearings to detect frequency signatures that may indicate imminent failure.
The project led to the founding of Dust Networks, to provide commercial applications for industrial monitoring and control.
Timeline
- July 2002: Dust Networks founded by Pister, Tod Dykstra, Rob Conant and Brett Warneke
- February 2004: Completes $7 million Series A financingVenture capital financingVenture capital financing is a type of financing by venture capital: the type of private equity capital is provided as seed funding to early-stage, high-potential, growth companies and more often after the seed funding round as growth funding round in the interest of generating a return through an...
from Foundation CapitalFoundation capitalFoundation Capital is a venture capital firm located in Silicon Valley. The firm was founded in 1995, and manages over $2.4 billion in investment capital. It raised its seventh and largest fund of $750 million in April 2008...
, Institutional Venture PartnersInstitutional Venture PartnersInstitutional Venture Partners is a US based private equity investment firm focusing on later-stage venture capital and growth equity investments. IVP is one of the oldest venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road founded by Reid W...
and In-Q-TelIn-Q-TelIn-Q-Tel of Arlington, Virginia, United States is a not-for-profit venture capital firm that invests in high-tech companies for the sole purpose of keeping the Central Intelligence Agency equipped with the latest in information technology in support of United States intelligence capability... - July 2004: First product delivered - SmartMesh shipping
- February 2005: Completes $22 million Series B financing from Crescendo Ventures, Cargill Ventures and prior investors
- March 2005: Launches products based on IEEE 802.15.4IEEE 802.15.4IEEE 802.15.4 is a standard which specifies the physical layer and media access control for low-rate wireless personal area networks . It is maintained by the IEEE 802.15 working group....
standard in the 2.4 GHz ISM bandISM bandThe industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications.... - June 2006: Launches SmartMesh-XT wireless sensor networking system optimized for industrial applications
- September 2007: WirelessHART standard ratified
- October 2007: SmartMesh IA-500 family of WirelessHART standards-based systems announced
- July 2008: Launches initiative focused on the use of Internet Protocol (IP) networking in urban infrastructure, building automation, utility metering, and other wireless sensor networking applications
Technology
Wireless sensor networks attempt to increase transmission reliability and quickly adapt should the transmission fail and automatically route around failed links. This requires embedded networking intelligence that establishes, maintains and utilizes redundant multi-hop routing from source to destination.Dust implements full-mesh networks, sometimes referred to as ‘mesh-to-the-edge’, which provides redundant routing to the edge of the network. In a full-mesh network every device has the same routing capabilities and is able to ‘decide’ where it belongs in the routing structure based on what other nodes it can communicate with, its proximity to the network gateway, and its traffic load. This allows for self-forming and self-healing. The multi-chip modules used to drive these networks are divided into 'gateways' and 'motes' (or mote modules). Gateways then tie back into larger networks used to make decisions within large industrial plants (oil refineries, chemical plants, produce facilities, etc).
The company has evolved from using a proprietary protocol called TSMP
TSMP
TSMP, an acronym for Time Synchronized Mesh Protocol, was developed by Dust Networks as a communications protocol for self-organizing networks of wireless devices called motes. TSMP devices stay synchronized to each other and communicate in timeslots, similar to other TDM systems...
(Time Synchronized Mesh Protocol), to Wireless HART to launching an IP-based initiative, in support of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), focused on the use of Internet Protocol (IP) networking in urban infrastructure, building automation, utility metering, and other wireless sensor networking applications.