Rapid development in wireless sensor networks

Citation

(2008), "Rapid development in wireless sensor networks", Sensor Review, Vol. 28 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/sr.2008.08728aab.006

Rapid development in wireless sensor networks

Rapid development in wireless sensor networks

The use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and services is poised for rapid growth, with global markets forecast to expand from a present (2007) level of $500 million to reach $4.6 billion by 2011. This is one of the conclusions reached in a report by business intelligence company ON World, Inc., entitled “WSN for Smart Industries.” It arose from a survey of North American industrial end-user companies from the chemicals, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, metals, pulp and paper sectors, together with WSN OEMs, service providers, systems integrators, module makers and component suppliers. The survey revealed that one in three companies are presently using WSN technologies but almost half are intending to investigate or plan for them during the next 18 months. For companies interested in WSNs, data reliability topped the concerns about the technology, with 90 percent of interviewees ranking this as the most important. Other key priorities included ease of use and long battery life. Key applications include machinery health (condition) monitoring, asset monitoring, monitoring processes and environmental emissions and structural integrity monitoring. Machinery health is a particularly critical use and 39 percent of interviewees who are planning to deploy WSNs are targeting this application. Predicted growth rates for a range of key applications are shown in Table I.

Figure 1 ZigBee transceiver module based on Texas Instruments' 802.15.4 system-on-chip technology (AeroComm, Inc.)

Presently, the majority of WSN users are employing proprietary rather than standards-based technologies. However, this situation is changing: almost half of the WSN nodes deployed this year will be based on IEEE 802.15.4, the specification forming the foundation for three WSN standards: WirelessHART, ISA100 and ZigBee (Figure 1). The WirelessHART standard, which is aimed at process applications, has recently been ratified by the Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (HART) Communication Foundation and is based on the bi-directional HART protocol, used to communicate between intelligent field instruments and host systems. WirelessHART- based products are expected to become available commercially in early 2008 and the standard is compatible with the more than 22 million HART- enabled devices installed in industrial plants world-wide. The ISA100 draft specification, which has a broader focus, including process, automation, RFID and facility management is being developed by ISA and the ZigBee specification, developed by the industry group ZigBee Alliance, is also gaining ground. Nevertheless, the survey found that of the leading automation and control OEMs, 55 percent plan to support the in-progress ISA100, 40 percent will support WirelessHART, and 32 percent will support ZigBee. According to the survey, the advanced features of the forthcoming “ZigBee Pro” specification, the trend by the IEEE of pushing more functionality into 802.15.4 chips, combined with competition amongst the large OEMs, is creating opportunities for new entrants in the industrial WSN business.

For further information, please contact: ON World, Inc., Emerald Plaza Center, 402 West Broadway, Suite 400, San Diego, California 92101, USA; web site: www.onworld.com