Born from Intel's New Business Initiatives group, GainSpan Corporation focuses on the creation of Wi-Fi based sensor networks--the creation of devices that can monitor such metrics as temperature or other environmental conditions, street lighting, motor conditions, locations of devices or individuals, etc. and communicate and interact with network systems and software via standard Wi-Fi connections.

The initial entry in the new vendor's product line is the GS1010 SoC (System-on-a-Chip), which is targeted to OEMs and would enable them to couple the chip with actual sensor gear (i.e., temperature or humidity probes, or motor monitors, for example) in the creation of sensor devices for use in industrial monitoring applications and networks. The chip boasts an on-board 802.11b/g radio, dual ARM7 32-bit microcontrollers, multiple I/Os, real-time clock, FLASH and SRAM memory, location awareness, and a power management unit. Location awareness would facilitate the use of the chip in devices that would allow for the locating of individuals or devices (such as locating a needed medical device, patient, or doctor in a hospital).

A key feature of the chip, the power management unit deserves special attention. The vendor notes that their product can be powered for five to ten years on a single AA battery (depending on application), a feature that is facilitated by the power management unit's ability to place the device in sleep mode much of the time. In conjunction with this capability, the vendor also offers the GainSpan Management System (GMS), which is software that resides on the network and provides an "always-on" interface to existing management systems, enabling them to configure and manage the sensor nodes themselves. The vendor states that the GMS platform aggregates management/control requests as well as facilitates the analysis and sharing of data across multiple systems.

Development kits for the SoCs are provided, including APIs for the interfacing of various sensors.

The GS1010 SoC is sampling now; with production quantities expected in December of 2007. Pricing is $15/per in quantities of 10,000.

Contact GainSpan for further information.

product submission by EITPlanet Staff

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