SCIENCE

Millennial Net has announced MeshScape 5, a new version of its patented technology specifically configured for OEM-embedded applications. MeshScape 5 includes a rich set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for rapid integration with sophisticated applications.

MeshScape 5 is a high-performance wireless mesh sensor networking (WSN) technology, which implements Millennial's unique Decentralized Distributed Dynamic Routing (D3R) technology. It is ideal for demanding dynamic, ad-hoc and mobile applications requiring bi-directional communications. Inherent in any wireless networking system are the tradeoffs of power, scale, speed, latency and upstream/downstream directional bias. Most WSNs available today, both proprietary and standards-based (such as Zigbee PRO and WirelessHart), achieve lesser or skewed performance levels across these many opposing design objectives, which limit their suitability for many applications. MeshScape is optimized to achieve much greater performance and reliability levels in more demanding applications.

MeshScape 5 includes the following key advances:

Bi-directional data reliability -- 99.9% -- based on D3R, which implements both fast data rerouting after link outages and frequency hopping to increase interference resistance. These are essential for timely downstream communications/controls and upstream monitoring/feedback. Communication is optimized for bi-directional control applications as well as unidirectional sense-only applications.

Advanced power management delivers low-latency communications using conventional batteries for several years on all network nodes, including routers and coordinators, and takes advantage of new energy harvesting technologies to extend battery life indefinitely, with packet delivery latency still measured in milliseconds.

Greatly enhanced scalability based on D3R, practically supporting multiple times the number of nodes in a wireless mesh network and the number of network hops in real-world environments compared with other technologies.

Reliable Peer-to-Peer communication delivers the capability for network nodes to send and receive packets directly and reliably to each other without requiring a coordinator or gateway.

Multiple network joining delivers the capability for a node to become a part of multiple networks simultaneously, giving the application the freedom to create and manage subnets in any combination.

Support for multiple hardware processor platforms, including MSP430, 8051 and others, as well as multiple radio platforms, including IEEE 802.15.4 and others.

Extremely rapid mesh reconfiguration supports mobile and other applications requiring fast reconfiguration of the mesh network.

Order of magnitude greater total network data transport capacity through frequency hopping across multiple channels, as compared with Zigbee Pro or other alternatives.

"The potential range of WSN applications expands as performance increases," says Sokwoo Rhee, Millennial Net Founder and CTO. "But performance has not been the focus of many WSN technology and standard developments to date. Today, we see market leading organizations in various application areas coming forward who value and seek high performance as a critical foundation upon which to address and exploit new opportunities. MeshScape 5 provides these companies a solid foundation of mature and proven technology, with the flexibility to adapt to application-driven requirements across many dimensions."

"The time and resource investment for OEMs to develop wireless product lines and bring new applications to market is substantial," says Dieter Schill, CEO. "Any OEM seeking to embed WSN technology as a key differentiator or with concerns about the performance of their current WSN technology should contact us."

Loic Moreau, Business Segment Manager of the Energy and Automation division of LEM, states, "Our experience with MeshScape for over 5 years has provided LEM a clear competitive advantage, through the reliability and adaptability of its wireless communication networks." LEM is a world market leader in providing innovative and high-quality sensors and solutions for measuring electrical parameters. "Our electric sub-metering products, Wi-LEM, are deployed in a wide range of industrial and commercial environments. Our customers combine Wi-LEM with other MeshScape devices to deploy energy management solutions across multiple sites in rapid fashion. The flexibility and reliability of MeshScape provide customers long-term assurance and economic advantages in both deployment and system sustainability."

MeshScape is recognized for its high performance as the WSN of choice by OEM partners in military/defense, energy management, home automation, industrial automation, medical and logistics fields. Millennial Net's business and technical strategy is focused on providing OEMs the differentiation and optimized performance for their unique application and market. Therefore, Millennial Net collaborates with market leaders to expand the domain of MeshScape applications, and is hardware independent.