Arch Rock Unveils First Enterprise-Class Wireless Sensor Network

'PhyNet' Platform Offers Internet-like Scalability, Resiliency
Using New Router Designed for IP-based WSNs
SAN FRANCISCO--(Business Wire)--
Arch Rock Corporation has introduced the first wireless sensor
network (WSN) to address large-scale enterprise applications by
forming large, resilient IP-based WSNs and letting users centrally
manage collections of those WSNs as an integral part of the enterprise
IP infrastructure.

Arch Rock's new PhyNet(TM) IP-based platform implements a tiered
WSN architecture that eliminates the need to co-locate individual
sensor networks with the server-based functions that control them by
placing a scalable internetworking tier -- the first "WSN router" --
between them. Sensor applications can now reside half a world away,
across a corporate campus or in the next room, communicating with any
number of WSNs across local- or wide-area IP networks.

Because PhyNet extends standard Internet Protocol (IP) technology
from the enterprise infrastructure to the sensor network mesh and out
to individual sensor nodes, those nodes can communicate directly with
any other IP devices on the enterprise network regardless of their
connection medium (IEEE 802.15.4 radio, 802.11 Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.).
The PhyNet platform also applies to the IP-based WSN the vast body of
standard and well tested IP tools for interoperability, management and
security, eliminating the need to deploy dedicated and unproven
schemes.

The PhyNet platform's tiered architecture includes:

-- the PhyNet Server, which manages collections of WSNs and
displays sensor data on a web-based user console that lets
users do WSN setup, diagnostics, management and web
services-based applications. The Management Server connects
via LAN or WAN IP networks to:

-- the PhyNet Router, centerpiece of the new architecture. PhyNet
Routers form an internetworking backbone between an IETF
6LoWPAN (IPv6 Low-Power Wireless Personal-Area Network)-based
WSN and its server-hosted applications; the use of multiple
PhyNet Routers within a single WSN eliminates the performance
bottlenecks and the single point of failure characteristic of
other solutions. PhyNet Routers connect via IEEE 802.15.4
low-power radio links to:

-- Arch Rock Nodes, including the new IPserial Node, which
extends Arch Rock sensor support beyond analog sensors to
digital sensors, data loggers and devices with legacy serial
connectors.

PhyNet is well suited for a broad range of large-scale
applications, including energy management, compliance and safety
enforcement, environmental monitoring, and emerging energy-generation
technologies.

Enterprise WSN: Deployments Dictated By Business Needs, Not
Network Incompatibilities

Roland Acra, Arch Rock CEO, said, "'Enterprise-ready' means being
able to deploy both individual sensor nodes and whole WSNs in a manner
dictated not by the constraints of incompatible network technologies,
but by real business needs. Up to now wireless sensor networks have
generally been targeted at pilot networks or small-scale scenarios.
Arch Rock's original product brought quick out-of-the-box deployment
and standards-based IP into the picture last year with our Primer
Pack/IP. Our customers are now entering a phase where they want to
connect and centrally manage multiple sensor-equipped buildings, often
for the purpose of offering remote monitoring services to their own
customers.

"To accomplish this, the PhyNet platform allows management
services and applications to reside in a protected and highly
available corporate data center, while sensor nodes and networking
functions can be located throughout a building, machine room or harsh
outdoor environment any distance (or number of links) away. No matter
how the PhyNet elements are distributed across the enterprise, the
applications can run end-to-end to the IP-based sensors through
standard enterprise-integrated IP routing."

David Mohler, chief technology officer at Arch Rock customer Duke
Energy, based in Charlotte, N.C., said, "IP networks represent the
best choice in network protocol, providing utilities access to
thousands of compatible devices for enhancing utility operations and
the delivery of energy efficiency products to our end-user customers.
IP networks are the primary choice for Duke Energy as we build out our
infrastructure to improve our services and leverage technology in
crafting a better customer experience."

PhyNet Routers Eliminate Performance Bottlenecks, Increase
Resiliency

PhyNet gives an enterprise broad deployment flexibility in terms
of both the number and size of WSNs. Within a given WSN, as the number
of sensors and the collected data increase, users can deploy several
PhyNet Routers -- the equivalent of having multiple edge routers
aggregating a set of wired local networks. This prevents performance
bottlenecks at the WSN edge by essentially adding a 250-Kbps ingress
and egress link with each added PhyNet Router, and ensures resiliency
by providing the sensor data with multiple egress points from the WSN.
With dynamic routing and full redundancy across all PhyNet Routers
deployed at the WSN edge, a node will dynamically find the best path
to its destination and automatically circumvent any breaks in
connectivity due to changes in the radio environment or in neighboring
nodes. The availability of multiple PhyNet Routers acting as
ingress/egress points also reduces average hop count within the WSN
mesh, improving effective throughput, latency and node battery life.

Broader Deployment Flexibility Than Other Architectures

Because all Arch Rock sensor nodes do both sensing and mesh
routing, a PhyNet sensor node can be placed anywhere within 802.15.4
radio range of any other node in a peer-to-peer relation. By contrast,
in other architectures, battery-powered nodes sense and AC-powered
nodes route, requiring carefully planned node placement -- a major
undertaking and a major deployment constraint in an enterprise-scale
deployment.

In addition, PhyNet uses the stateless, dynamic IP protocol, which
routes around failures and rebuilds paths dynamically across multiple
sensor nodes and/or access routers, while the stateful and complex
protocol translation required in non-IP and proprietary architectures
is difficult to replicate in a large-scale, distributed manner across
edge devices. Finally, because IP is media-independent, PhyNet nodes
can talk directly to all other IP devices, while nodes in non-IP
networks can talk only to each other unless special translation
software is written to bridge the communication gap.

Elements of the PhyNet Architecture

The PhyNet Server translates embedded sensor applications into web
services and provides a suite of web-based applications for the setup,
diagnostics and management of multiple WSNs. Users can view sensor
data and events from all WSNs; generate a deployment map; discover,
register, move and configure nodes; enable/disable sensors or show
their battery status; graphically display performance statistics; and
set reporting intervals, thresholds and alerts.

The PhyNet Router, an embedded networking device connecting
6LoWPAN mesh networks via Wi-Fi and Ethernet interfaces to diverse WAN
links, allows the physical separation of sensor node deployments and
their server-hosted applications. The router establishes an
internetworking backbone by forming and adaptively configuring the
routing table to reach all nodes in a WSN mesh. Supporting native IPv6
to the sensor nodes, it handles IPv4-to-IPv6 protocol translation,
provides packet encryption/decryption and authentication, and supports
over-the-air (OTA) programming and provisioning of nodes.

Arch Rock's new IPserial Node allows WSN users to connect to smart
digital sensors such as digital meters and thermometers, weather
stations, biometric equipment; to a broad set of instruments and data
loggers with RS232 and RS485 interfaces; and to sensing and control
systems that use legacy wired buses (e.g., ModBus) equipped with
serial interfaces. This node lets users take advantage of a broad
array of highly precise, small-footprint digital sensors, which can be
mixed and matched with existing analog sensor nodes using expansion
ports to form a highly diverse WSN.

Pricing and Availability

Arch Rock PhyNet-based WSN products are available immediately. An
entry-level system priced at $7,995 includes one PhyNet Server, two
PhyNet Routers, 10 IPsensor Nodes (analog) and two IPserial Nodes. The
system can be scaled through the addition of individual components.

Arch Rock Primer Pack/IP, an out-of-the-box solution for creating
pilot WSNs, will continue to be available for $4,995.

About Arch Rock Corporation

Arch Rock is a pioneer in open-standards-based wireless sensor
network technology. The company's products, which gather data from the
physical world and integrate it into the enterprise IT infrastructure
using IP networking and web services, are used in environmental
monitoring, tracking and logistics, industrial automation and control.
Arch Rock's founders, while at the University of California-Berkeley
and Intel Research, did seminal research and development work on WSNs,
creating three generations of wireless sensor nodes, mesh networking
protocols, and the leading operating system for sensor networks. For
more information, visit http://www.archrock.com.

Arch Rock Corporation
Brian Bohlig, 415-992-3735
bbohlig@archrock.com
or
Ulevich & Orrange, Inc.
Janis Ulevich, 650-329-1590
ulevich@u-o.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008