Abstract
The topic of this report is Unattended Ground Sensors communications
technologies and markets. UGSs are becoming common tools to obtain various
information, including environmental, situational and other data from
difficult reachable for humans places. They, initially, were utilized in the
various military applications, and only lately found the place in the
commercial sectors, starting from SCADA and going even to Personal Body LAN.
The main advantage of such sensors is their ability to utilizing wireless
communications between the area of deployment and an operator who may be
located miles from the area of UGS operations.
Large-scale WSN-UGS represent an evolving generation of embedded
communications structures and they have characteristics that differentiate
them from traditional wireless networks. WSN-UGS have many constrains that are
not typical for other wireless networks, such as:
- Node size
- Dependence on the battery life
- Bandwidth
- Extreme conditions for operations
- Large number of nodes.
These networks are usually constructed in a mesh topology, and are left to be
self-organized and self-protected. They can function unattended for months,
collecting valuable commercial or military information necessary for their
users functioning. In many cases, these networks availability is vital for
success of the military operation or normal operation of a manufacturing
facility.
Our analysis showed that the UGS addressable market is growing together with a
military WSN-UGS market, and 2010-2012 years will be a time of UGS
penetration in a variety of commercial and military sectors.
The report concentrates on two forward-looking technologies, UWB and ZigBee
that were designed with such applications as UGS in mind. Though completely
different in nature, these technologies are well suited for UGS communications
specifics, such as extremely low power consumption, low levels of transmission
with noise-like signals, high security and low-to middle speeds of
transmission.
The report contains marketing and technical analysis of both UWB and ZigBee,
with accent on their applicability to support WSN-UGS mesh infrastructures. It
also provides the analysis of UGS specifics in the WSN environment.
Research Methodology
Considerable research was done using the Internet. Information from various
Web sites was studied and analyzed; evaluation of publicly available marketing
and technical publications was also conducted. Telephone conversations and
interviews were held with industry analysts, technical experts and executives.
In addition to these interviews and primary research, secondary sources were
used to develop a more complete mosaic of the market landscape, including
industry and trade publications, conferences and seminars.
The overriding objective throughout the work has been to provide valid and
relevant information. This has led to a continual review and update of the
information content.
Target Audience
This report provides WSN-UGS communications technologies and markets analysis
and assessments. It shows that ZigBee and UWB are two primary communications
technologies that support successful UGS development. The report is useful for
service providers, retail operators, vendors, network operators and managers,
investors and end users seeking to gain a deeper understanding of UGS-based
structures opportunities and barriers.
For systems vendors, integrators and others, the report provides an analysis
and assessment of competing products currently available as well as an
estimation of the overall opportunities in the coming years. The end users can
gain a more thorough understanding of product' s market and capabilities as
well as the economics of using ZegBee and UWB to improve cost efficiency of
Wireless Sensor Networks based on UGS.
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