Meshed Motes

Startups are flourishing and the big IT firms are salivating at the prospect of the next big thing. What is it? Wireless sensor devices (motes) combined with mesh networking. Motes are tiny devices that packages some sensor hardware, with wireless networking capability and application software. They can detect changes in temperature, pressure, moisture, light, sound, magnetism, motion, radiation, etc. With wireless technology and low power consumption, these devices can reside anywhere for years, without servicing, just monitoring. Mesh networking give the devices their independence from the central computer, human hands and power needs. With mesh networking, the devices belong to the collective. They wake whenever they have something interesting to report, broadcast for a fraction of a second and return dormant -- consuming on a tiny amount of power. Instead of sending their information all the way back to the central computer, they simply relay it to the nearest mote, which in turn sends it to the next mote, etc. Think of tiny sensors in their own private internet. Manufacturers are hoping that someday they'll have nanoscale devices that can operate in a mesh network. Once they've been perfected, the machines will take over. Read more in InformationWeek.