Peek into the 'third wave of wireless' with GreenPeak

OK, this one might seem a little obscure at first, so bear with me. There are two threads involved: the role of wireless technology in energy conservation, interspersed with some intrigue around energy harvesting.

The company in question is GreenPeak, which is creating what it calls ultra low power wireless technology for sensor control networks. So, for example, these are the sorts of devices that you will see being used in systems that monitor buildings and turn the lights on and off. Or that could be used to keep tabs on environmental conditions along a pipeline of some sort. (They would work in a mesh configuration, reporting from node to node.) GreenPeak, which hails from the Netherlands, was cooked up by Cees Links, who has worked variously at NCR, AT&T, Lucent Technologies and Agere Systems. Some of their recent press releases are here.

OK, big deal so far, you say. Well here's where it gets interesting. First off, these are wireless sensors, no cabling involved. Links provided me with some context on why that matters. Consider the typical new-ish high-end automobile, which is now loaded with between 30 and 50 sensors that are all wired together to control things like your keyless access, gauges, and so on. Believe it or not, Links says, between 5 percent and 10 percent of the weight of many cars now comes from the cabling of all the systems that monitor it and control it. Then consider that reducing the weight of a car reduces its energy consumption. So, aha moment one: Things like the GreenPeak sensor technology could matter in automotive design.

BUT, you point out, what about maintaining those batteries? It's annoying enough when the battery in your carkey poops out. You can't be worrying about replacing batteries, especially if the sensors are being used in some kind of critical application. So, here's where GreenPeak's message gets even more interesting. The sensors, which will comply with the IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee standard), have energy harvesting ready interfaces. That means they can be combined with solar cells or devices that pull energy from electromagnetic fields. What that implies for the field is less maintenance, according to Link. Here's some more background on energy harvesting from GreenPeak itself AND another source of information.

GreenPeak's software already is being used by companies like Honeywell. But Links says the company is working on its own hardware and chipset that will come to market later this year.