From the smart home, through intelligent transport systems, to Telecare and Telemedicine, sensor networks are set to play an increasingly important role in our everyday lives. In many cases the only practical way to connect these sensors to a monitoring system will be via a wireless link and, therefore, the development of efficient wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is a key enabler in the uptake and success of sensor technologies.

MAC Ltd has been active in the research and development of wireless sensor networks for a number of years. We were part of the pioneering FloodNet project that investigated the use of WSNs in the monitoring of flood threats in river floodplains. We developed a number of communication nodes that were used to collect water-level measurements in remote locations. We also investigated the use of agent technologies within WSNs and developed our own ad-hoc routing protocols, which allow WSNs to adjust dynamically as sensor nodes enter and leave the network.

Since our involvement in this project we have developed our own wireless sensor node (SensaPak™) and we are currently developing a gateway node that allows a WSN network to be accessed remotely via a commercial cellular network or other other wireless technology (eg, WiFi).

Therefore, if you are using sensors and you require assistance in wireless networking and gateway development, then MAC Ltd has the skills and expertise you need.