Millennial Net releases sensor network management software

Detroit, MI; Cambridge, MA—To provide superior development and integration capabilities for ease of deployment, Millennial Net Inc. has introduced its Sensor Network Management (SNM) software and application programming interface (API)

By Control Engineering Staff June 22, 2004

Detroit, MI; Cambridge, MA— To provide superior development and integration capabilities for ease of deployment, Millennial Net Inc. has introduced its Sensor Network Management (SNM) software and application programming interface (API), which consist of sophisticated management tools for its ultra-small, ultra-low power i-Bean hardware networking devices. The software eases installation and maintenance of wireless mesh networks, and greatly reduces the complexity of connecting and managing vast networks of sensors and other monitoring devices. Millennial develops self-organizing wireless mesh networks.

Millennial says its SNM software represents the first time that users can incorporate traditional wired network management functions into their wireless sensor networks, and creates a common platform for all i-Bean devices operating at 916 MHz or 2.4GHz. SNM’s API provides an interface through which back-end applications can easily integrate into the sensor network. Using a portfolio of radio technologies, including micro-power narrowband and 802.15.4-based radios, i-Bean endpoints, routers and gateways combine to create self-organizing, self-configuring wireless networks.

‘SNM tools are key software advances that allow customers to quickly develop, integrate, and deploy application-based wireless sensor networks,’ says Sokwoo Rhee, Millennial’s CTO. ‘Our customers value the ability to set up a network right out of the box and easily manage their Millennial Net Sensor Networks, as well as incorporate the same functions into their own applica-tions by using our SNM API.’

SNM software automatically discovers and displays active i-Bean devices to assemble a functioning wireless network. The SNM allows users to view and control the entire sensor network environment from one monitoring or control station much like wired network management tools. The software also allows users to set network and device parameters, and monitor the status of network components and their I/O points. This functionality will ease the network manager’s burden and eliminate legacy monitoring application redundancies.

Meanwhile, SNM API allows network managers to integrate existing applications, and completely control their networks. SNM API is designed for high scalability, and supports a full portfolio of functions, including event notification, error handling, logging and statistics.

Control Engineering Daily News DeskJim Montague, news editorjmontague@reedbusiness.com