WSN Update

The Engineering Technology & Industrial Distribution (ETID) department of Texas A&M University has created a new Sensors and RFID Technologies laboratory to study the combined usage of Wireless Sensors and RFID Tags. The 2000 foot facility has received funding from a number of RFID and WSN companies including Alien Technology, Axcess, Crossbow Technology, Dust Networks, Escort Memory Service, Intermec Technologies and TAGSys.

Since the lab's opening last fall, a number of projects have been initiated with nearby businesses. Specifically, the lab is designing a hazardous chemical tracking and sensing solution, a patient monitoring solution for nursing homes, and an inventory tracking system for a precast concrete form company. The lab has also sent a proposal to the state of West Virginia to include RFID tags and Carbon Dioxide sensors on personnel badges to track location and safety of miners.

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A number of recent industry events demonstrates the long-term potential for Zigbee devices, according to a recent press release by the Zigbee Alliance. These events include the acquisition of Chipcon by Texas Instruments and the announcement that STMicroelectronics will jointly develop Ember's Zigbee products.

The ZigBee Alliance is now more than 200 Alliance Members strong and has a presence in 24 countries spanning six continents. OEMs and end-product manufacturers now represent 30 percent of the global membership. With the acquisition of Chipcon, TI now joins the elite group of Promoter members: BM Group, Ember, Freescale, Honeywell, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Phillips and Samsung.

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