TABLE OF CONTENTS Sure, wireless applications can save time by helping people move faster. Isn t it even better when it can free them altogether from routine tasks? That s the promise of machine-to-machine communications, also known as M2M.
After all, in many businesses the majority of workers are glorified nannies, doing little more than keeping an eye on the machines that perform the actual work. On the factory floor, they trudge from meter to meter; in the field, they sometimes travel for hours to check on a pump or valve out in the middle of nowhere.
Enabling the overseer to remotely monitor a machine using a desktop computer offers a world of time- and labor-saving advantages. Even better is letting the machine report directly to a central monitoring and management system. This latter strategy gives the human supervisors a higher-level understanding of systemic operations and an improved ability to forecast and plan.
On the consumer level, communicative machines with wireless connectivity let homeowners monitor their houses while they re
away, control home systems such as heating and cooling to respond to changes in weather, and take advantage of off-peak prices for energy and water use.
Communicative machines can make field-force workers more productive, help manufacturers and utility companies balance loads and avoid outages, help retail store clerks serve customers better, and let homeowners feel like the Jetsons.
M2M communications include:
Remote sensors that allow monitoring at a distance
Remote control of machinery and systems for industry and for the home
Short-range sensor-to-sensor exchanges using...
