Wirelessly networked sensors—devices that run their own operating system and communicate with one another, rather than a single reader—are relatively new. Here are four companies that provide the technology today.
Crossbow Technology (www.xbow.com): Founded in 1995, Crossbow claims more than 1,000 customers. It supplies motion and environmental sensor systems for aviation, land and marine applications, and other instrumentation sensors.
Dust Networks (www.dust-inc.com): This startup was founded in 2002 by Kris Pister, who did pioneering work in sensory networks at the University of California at Berkeley. Its technology is used in building automation, industrial monitoring and defense.
Ember (www.ember.com): Founded by MIT alumni Robert Poor and Andrew Wheeler in 2001, Ember offers sensor networking hardware and software for companies in the building-automation, asset-management, industrial-automation, utility and defense industries.
Millennial Net (www.millennial.net): This 4-year-old company offers hardware and software needed to build low-power wireless sensor networks used in industrial and building automation, supply chain management, automatic meter reading and security.