Emerson wireless announcment Emerson Process held its long awaited wireless press announcement yesterday evening followed by the inevitable relief and excitement that accompanies such a long project. The Emerson wireless team labled this a significant announcement, and I would agree. John Berra, president of Emerson Process, noted that press releases don't change the world, products do. And products there are. Several Rosemount pressure, flow and temperature devices are now available for purchase using Emerson's wireless technology. The Delta V platform and Asset Management Suite are also now prepared to work with them. Emerson is offering a starter kit for $15,000 that contains enough equipment for a user to install in an area and get a sense of the power of the solution.
Emerson's wireless strategy is built upon a "mesh" technology, IEEE 802.15.4, that is known as self-healing or self-organizing. After a gateway device is installed, new wireless nodes can be added just by bringing them into range of the gateway or another device on the network. The gateway polls the device to see if it's a "friend" and if so, then allows it on the network. In a mesh, every device talks to every other device seeking the best routing for its message. It's kind of like conversations at a dinner table. Emerson tested several technologies and protocols during its 3-year test period in customer plants and settled on TSMP (time synchronized mesh protocol) over the more widely-known CDMA.
The underlying philosophy of the mesh technology is to enable users to install literally hundreds or more sensors in a plant easily and at low cost. But the benefit does not stop there. The point is to also enhance software applications such as asset optimization to be able to make sense of this influx of data so that plants can achieve operational excellence.
10:32:53 PM 
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