Sensicast Announces Precision Wireless Temperature Monitoring Sensor Devices; Inks Major Distribution & Marketing Deal

Business Wire, Dec 13, 2004

NEEDHAM, Mass. -- B&B Electronics Will Offer Full Suite of Sensicast Nodes to Its Vast Customer Base

Sensicast Systems, a leading provider of wireless sensor networking products and solutions, today announced it had broadened its temperature and humidity monitoring product line and signed a distribution and partnership agreement with B&B Electronics, a leading design, manufacturing and distribution company. B&B Electronics will offer custom and off-the-shelf wireless sensing devices based on Sensicast's Sensor Networking Platform for monitoring information such as temperature, serial, analog or digital data. This marks a major milestone for Sensicast and a considerable expansion of B&B Electronics' 802.15.4 offerings. The newest product, the wireless RTD sensing device, offers highly accurate temperature measurements in real time. This and other Sensicast based products will be included in the 2005 B&B Electronics Data Communications catalog and website for immediate sale.

"We've seen a great deal of momentum among our customers for the types of wireless sensor technologies that Sensicast has developed," said Don Wiencek, president of B&B Electronics. "More than 75% of the Fortune 100 turn to us for communications solutions, and our thousands of customers range from end users to solution providers. As an indication of the strong future of wireless monitoring, this diverse customer base is rapidly becoming aware of the potential for wireless solutions to solve previously unsolvable monitoring challenges. Partnering with innovative companies like Sensicast to solve these problems together and create new applications is key to B&B Electronics' goal of making this exciting technology available to our customers and the markets we serve."

Under the deal, B&B Electronics will offer Sensicast wireless sensing devices in off-the-shelf configurations for end users and system integrators to easily deploy their own wireless solutions. The company will also offer customized Sensicast-based devices and solutions based on customers' unique needs. The new Sensicast RTD sensing device is already on back order and the serial, analog and discrete I/O devices are planned for early 2005. Beginning in January, the RTD device will be offered alongside nine other Sensicast wireless products on B&B Electronics' website, www.bb-elec.com. Additionally, the company's January catalog will feature a case study of a joint B&B/Sensicast project at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station that will deliver considerable wiring savings while creating a motor monitoring system that is a dramatic improvement over their prior solution.

"This announcement is meaningful to us for several reasons," said Paul Sereiko, CEO of Sensicast Systems. "First and most important, B&B Electronics' reputation for best-in-class data communications equipment and expertise is the proof point that wireless sensor networking is ready for large scale distribution. Second, B&B Electronics' tremendous customer base greatly broadens the market to which we can offer the industry's most cost-effective, reliable wireless solutions. Finally, it is internally gratifying because we're adding another solid wireless product to our platform while using B&B's in-house engineering and manufacturing capabilities to expand our ability to offer new and exciting products. These important accomplishments will improve our ability to solve even the toughest wireless monitoring challenges."

The new devices are flexible, upgradeable, reliable, and extremely power-efficient. They support a number of inputs and integrate seamlessly into Sensicast's Environmental Monitoring System management software and with any other software easily via standard integration protocols or the SensiMesh Server API.

RTD100 and RTD200 I/O Sensors

The RTD100/200s are wireless resistance temperature device (RTD) sensing nodes that operate as a component of Sensicast's Sensor Network Platform. The devices deliver the most reliable radio connectivity in the industry because they include the industry's most robust protocol, Sensicast's SensiNet(TM) networking protocol, which is specifically designed for the crowded and harsh radio environments commonly found in real world settings.

The SensiNet protocol provides the self-healing, self-configuring, multi-hop, bi-directional power-managed mesh networking features typically found in most mesh networking protocols. SensiNet extends these common mesh networking capabilities dramatically through its use of frequency diversity, amplification, and its patent-pending Distributed Frequency Spread Spectrum (DFSS) technology, resulting in enhanced radio signal connectivity in even the harshest and busiest RF environments.

The RTD100 is based on a 900MHz, FCC-approved module running the SensiNet industrial strength networking protocol and the RTD200 is a 2.4GHz, IEEE 802.15.4, ZigBee-ready product that also runs the SensiNet protocol. The devices are totally wireless, with no need for data or power wiring, have a range of over 1,000 feet and are remotely firmware-upgradeable.