Sensoria Corporation, a mobile mesh networking company, is introducing their EnRoute500 a dual-radio outdoor wireless mesh router. This new device is paired with the EnRoute400 (pdf), Sensoria’s mobile mesh router, to create a network that serves multiple missions and user groups.
Sensoria says mobile municipal or transit workers can benefit from enhanced field communications; neighborhoods, businesses and commuters can benefit from increased Internet access options; and emergency responders can access critical communications anytime, anywhere.
The outdoor-mounted, dual-radio EnRoute500 maximizes communication range and application bandwidth with an 802.11g mesh backhaul connection while offering high bandwidth connectivity to WiFi enabled clients over a dedicated 802.11b/g access point. The EnRoute500 is interoperable with the company’s EnRoute400 mobile mesh devices, so networks residing within vehicles, busses, and trains can join the fixed wireless network at any point.
Sensoria’s EnRoute products can support real-time video and VoIP communications as well as multicast routing for optimal bandwidth management, claims Sensoria. Their products are based on its patented embedded mesh technology, that enables each device to route and repeat network traffic creating a wireless virtual private network.
The new EnRoute500 features one of the smallest ruggedized outdoor enclosures at 7.2″ X 5″ X 1.9″ to minimize the visual impact on the environment. List price for the Sensoria EnRoute500 dual-radio outdoor wireless mesh router is $2,895 per unit and for the EnRoute400 mobile wireless mesh router is $1,695 per unit.
Meanwhile, Firetide, a wireless mesh startup, today announced their HotView Pro Mesh Management Software for service providers and large enterprises. It offers mesh scalability up to 1,000 nodes and the ability to deploy and manage multiple mesh environments.
HotView Pro software provides live monitoring and management of mesh networks and multi-mesh environments for service providers and large enterprise networks. The software’s MeshBridge feature provides full interoperability between two or more mesh networks operating on different channels or frequencies.
The company said The Cloud, Europe’s leading Wi-Fi network, and the City of Rio Rancho, New Mexico are beta customers. Rio Rancho will use their new HotPort 4.9 GHz Public Safety Mesh Network for licensed public safety operation for emergency services and first responders.
Firetide’s HotView Pro software includes Firetide’s AutoMesh protocol is said to deliver maximum performance, scalability, and ease of deployment. Performance enhancements include traffic prioritization and multiple simultaneous paths for load balancing and instant route recovery.
The Cloud is deploying a Firetide HotPort mesh with HotView Pro in the Town of Bridgend, England. The Cloud provides high speed, secure wireless Internet access for almost 6,000 Hotspot locations across the UK and is opening more than 100 new locations each week. “The Cloud is migrating from HotSpots in shops and cafes to HotZones covering larger geographic areas.
Motorola’s new Mesh product, incorporating MeshNetworks technology, is a four-radio access point aimed at municipalities that want to run separate public and private networks over the air. Moto bought startup Mesh Networks in a deal rumored to be worth over $200 million (see Unstrung’sMoto Gets Mesh).
Motorola’s initial product dubbed the Motomesh, can be installed on a lamp post or pole, with two 802.11 radios inside and two proprietary mesh-enabled architecture (MEA) radios inside. The idea is to use one of each type of radio for access, one for the mesh backhaul and to keep the two “channels” separate. Motorola hopes their four-radio setup will give them the edge over rivals like BelAir Networks, Nortel Networks and Tropos Networks.
Motorola says Buffalo, MN is using Motorola’s Mesh Network solution to provide high-speed mobile broadband access to police and other city employees. Buffalo police patrol cars are now mesh-enabled, transforming them into mobile broadband offices.
Moto’s box can be configured to have two completely different radios — for instance, public access over 802.11 on the 2.4Ghz bands and emergency workers using the MEA radios on the 4.9Ghz band.
In related news, the Canadian Centre for Architecture is presenting, “Sense of the City“, a major exhibition dedicated to the theme of urban phenomena and perceptions from October 26, 2005 to September 10, 2006. The exhibition proposes a rethinking of latent qualities of the city, offering complex analyses of the comforts, communication systems, and sensory dimensions of urban life thus advancing a new spectrum of experience and engagement.
DailyWireless has more on Mesh Round-Up and Motorola’s Mesh Cloud.
In related news, short range, low power sensor networks are coming alive. The Wireless Sensing Solutions Conference (Blog), September 27-28, 2005, in Chicago, will showcase several new products.
Dust Networks today announced that it will be showcasing its latest wireless mesh networking technology. Ember will be shipping what is says is a veritable Zigbee “cactus” of a Zigbee networking platform, meaning it will hold onto and conserve power unlike anything before it.
ZigBee is a published specification set of high level communication protocols designed to use small, low power digital radios based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard for wireless personal area networks (WPANs). The relationship between IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee is analogous to that existing between IEEE 802.11 and the Wi-Fi Alliance. The ZigBee 1.0 specifications were ratified on December 14, 2004 and are available to members of the ZigBee Alliance.
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