HAYWARD, CA /PRNewswire/ -- Dust Networks, a leading provider of highly reliable, ultra-low-power embedded wireless sensor networks (WSN), was announced as one of the recipients of The Wall Street Journal's 2006 Global Technology Innovation Awards. Dust Networks was named a runner-up in the wireless category. More than 600 entries from around the world were considered for the prestigious awards. These awards recognize technological breakthroughs by individuals, companies, and organizations around the world in a wide range of areas, including medicine and medical devices, wireless, security, consumer electronics, semiconductors, and others.
"In selecting winners and runners-up, the judges considered whether the technology truly represents a breakthrough from conventional methods rather than just an incremental improvement," said The Wall Street Journal news editor John Leger.
Sensors are commonly used to detect a wealth of information about the physical world, but the challenge has been to collect that information cost- effectively and put it to actionable use. Wired sensor networks are commonly deployed today, but they are expensive to install and maintain and, in many cases, simply impractical to deploy in remote locations. Until now, wireless has been too unreliable and expensive for widespread use in commercial and industrial environments, where tens of thousands of sensors are often deployed on a site.
Dust Networks' innovative SmartMesh wireless mesh networking products, based on the Time Synchronized Mesh Protocol, can now cost-effectively bridge the information gap from the physical world to IT systems, providing unprecedented reliability even in harsh RF environments. SmartMesh products dramatically reduce the cost of installation and maintenance for sensor networks, enabling larger networks and richer, more productive data collection in a wide variety of applications, including in-plant monitoring, energy consumption reduction, wireless security systems, and beyond.
"As a pioneer in wireless sensor networking, we are honored to be acknowledged by this prestigious award from The Wall Street Journal for technology innovation," said Joy Weiss, president and CEO of Dust Networks. "The market momentum for WSN is building as customers gain the tangible benefits of this technology. Over the next decade, the pervasive deployment of wireless sensor networks will transform the use of physical asset information, starting a new chapter in the Information Age."
In addition to The Wall Street Journal Innovation Award, Dust Networks was recently the recipient of several other industry awards, including the "Best of Sensors Expo" award in 2005, 2006 AlwaysOn 100 "Top Private Company Award," M2M Magazine's "M2M 100 List" in 2005, Red Herring Magazine's "Top 100 Private Companies in North America," and Gartner's "Cool Vendors in Emerging Trends and Technologies for 2005."
About Dust Networks
Dust Networks, a leader in the wireless sensor networking market, provides embedded wireless sensor networking products to OEMs in the industrial automation, building automation and defense markets. The Dust Networks SmartMesh family of wireless products combines time-synchronized mesh networking technology and standards-based motes to provide networks with unmatched reliability and extremely low-power consumption. Dust Networks enables its OEM customers to offer monitoring and control solutions that provide unprecedented access to information, resulting in improved operations, safer work environments, and competitive advantage. Dust Networks partners with industry and standards groups, such as ISA, the HART Foundation, and WINA, to ensure that wireless sensor networking technology is easy to implement and interoperable. For more information, contact Tim Smith, OutCast Communications, 415-392-8282 or [email protected], or visit the company's Web site.