Log in
  
Home > Networking & Communications > Wireless > Wireless Applications
Related topics: Wireless Applications,News Room, Sensors Mag
Wireless Applications

Partnership Integrates ZigBee Networks with Other Environments

June 6, 2006

Tendril and Ember team up to speed wireless sensor and control network deployments by bundling Tendril system software with Ember ZigBee technology.


DENVER /PRNewswire/ -- Tendril, the leader in system software for developing and deploying wireless sensor and control networks (WSCN), has partnered with Ember Corp. to help customers easily and quickly deploy WSCN applications. Through this partnership, Tendril and Ember will integrate Ember's ZigBee-compliant networking platform with other environments, including IP networks, building automation networks, and PC/PDA-based applications, enabling rapid deployment of WSCN applications in a variety of fields.

Tendril system software will also be included in Ember development kits, including the recently announced EM250 JumpStart and Development Kits. These development kits will bundle a free limited-use version of Tendril's groundbreaking system software for WSCN. Comprised of Tendril Brokers, Tendril Bridges, and Tendril Agents, the system software dramatically simplifies projects for both OEMs and system integrators, allowing OEMs to integrate wireless networking capabilities into their products in less than a week, and allowing system integrators to successfully add WSCN to deployments in the field in just hours as opposed to days.

As an Ember Premier Partner, Tendril will also participate in select Ember training and trade show events, and Ember and Tendril will collaborate on joint marketing activities in support of both companies' products.

"This partnership between Tendril and Ember is significant because our combined technologies dramatically simplify the process of developing nontrivial wireless sensor and control network applications," said Tim Enwall, CEO of Tendril. "Together, Tendril and Ember have learned that organizations using this integrated solution are able to build and deploy powerful, IP-connected WSCN applications in a matter of days, rather than the months of labor typically required using other normal development methods. As an illustration of the power of our system software, Tendril recently demonstrated robust building automation applications, fully integrated with and controlled by traditional building automation systems, that were built in less than one week. This is a remarkable reduction in the time it takes to build a full WSCN application. Dramatically simplifying deployments in this way has proven to speed the market adoption of Ember products, which is a key reason why Tendril and Ember are deepening our already-successful relationship with the signing of this Premier Partner agreement."

Tendril system software is the first distributed platform that allows organizations to fully leverage the power of WSCN implementations that integrate different types of low-power sensors/actuators with enterprise or normal PC/PDA-based computing systems. Tendril's technology accomplishes this by providing an integrated enterprise-side and node-side programming interface, along with associated network bridging software, for managing wireless sensor and control networks, allowing OEMs and system integrators to quickly and easily build, orchestrate, and deploy their applications.

"Both companies share a commitment to facilitating simpler, faster development of wireless sensor and control network technology," said Adrian Tuck, executive vice president of Ember. "This Ember-Tendril bundled solution is a key competitive advantage for organizations that are planning sensor networks, helping OEM customers get to market quickly and maximize the ROI for IP-connected wireless network implementations."

For additional information about this partnership, attendees of this week's Sensors Expo & Conference and co-located ZigBee Developer's Conference can visit Tendril and Ember in Booth #603 or learn more during Ember training courses at the ZigBee Developer's Conference.

About Ember Corp.
Ember's embedded networks enable communication among embedded microcontrollers with standards-based wireless mesh networking semiconductors and software. Ember helps its customers to automate home appliances, reduce energy consumption in buildings, keep borders and infrastructure secure, and control industrial processes, just to name four of the many diverse applications being developed by Ember's more than 100 customers. Spun out of MIT in 2001, Ember is headquartered in Boston and has its radio development center in Cambridge, England, and distributors worldwide. Ember is a lead member of the ZigBee Alliance, and its platform is the National Technical Systems' (NTS) "Golden Suite" for 802.15.4/ZigBee interoperability testing. For more information, please visit the company's Web site.

About Tendril
Tendril is at the forefront of the "Internet of Things"—the next big stage of computing—which allows organizations to interact with the physical world in areas where computing has previously been cost-prohibitive. To achieve its vision, Tendril is leading the expansion of the wireless sensor and control networks category by developing system software for product OEMs and integrators to integrate low-power wireless into their products and services in days, not months. This groundbreaking technology includes the first system software product of its kind to sit on top of a variety of low-power wireless sensor and control networks—including ZigBee, 802.15.4 and proprietary 802.15.4-based networks—offering a distributed platform for instantiating, manipulating, and orchestrating previously noncomputerized activities related to buildings, factories, cities, crops, homes and other objects in the physical world. For more information about Tendril, visit the company's Web site.






Sensors.tv