Arch Rock Unveils IP-Powered Wireless Sensor Network

Monday, 07 June 2010 09:30

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Arch Rock Corporation has introduced the Primer Pack, the first wireless sensor network that can be accessed and operated as part of the IT infrastructure, allowing enterprises to use standard Internet management tools to gain visibility and control of individual sensor nodes.

The Primer Pack is user-friendly and can be deployed in an hour as a pilot network in a factory, but, according to Arch Rock, the solution is “sophisticated enough to be seamlessly integrated into enterprise applications as a set of standards-compliant web services.”

Image via CrunchBase

Using Arch Rock’s application programming interfaces (APIs) users can create custom applications to monitor physical conditions, says Arch Rock, “without doing the cumbersome embedded programming typically required to build sensor network applications. Sensor data becomes immediately available to the plant manager or field worker on his mobile device of choice, or to the office worker in his web browser or enterprise planning application.”

Through IP and web services integration, Primer Pack gives users full access to embedded WSN services through common IT methodologies.

Dr. David Culler, Arch Rock founder and chief technology officer, says, “Sensor networks in the past have been approached as technology ‘islands,’ divorced from the broad set of widely-used Internet standards. Primer Pack uses those standards as the basis for bringing the sensor network into the web services environment and integrating it with enterprise applications.”

For the first time users can access and remotely manage the sensor network just as they would any other networked device, Culler notes. “In addition, there’s been far too much ‘assembly required’: users have been left on their own to pull together the elements of WSNs microcontrollers, radios, wireless protocols, interfaces, commissioning and management tools and then tediously hand-code their applications. As a turnkey, customizable WSN system, Primer Pack eliminates these obstacles and fully incorporates the physical world of sensors into the digital world of IT.”

Arch Rock CEO Roland Acra adds, “Users have been waiting for a sensor network solution that requires no training to set up or write custom applications, yet doesn’t compromise functionality. For wireless device developers and IT system integrators, Primer Pack provides a service-oriented architecture (SOA) platform to assess the functionality and performance of their solutions in advance of customer deployments.”