Arch Rock Corporation's IP-based wireless sensor networking software is now available to run on Atmel Corporation's RZRAVEN 2.4GHz Evaluation and Starter Kit, a tool for developing low-power embedded wireless applications. With the Arch Rock software, users of the RZRAVEN kit can gain first-hand experience in running the Internet's pervasive networking standard, IP, on Atmel's small, low-power embedded wireless devices.

Arch Rock developed a version of its software, based on the IETF 6LoWPAN standard for IPv6 wireless communication over low-power radio, to work with the key components of the RZRAVEN kit, the ATmega1284P picoPower microcontroller and the AT86RF230 transceiver chip based on the IEEE 802.15.4 low-power radio standard. IETF 6LoWPAN (RFC 4944), approved last year by the Internet Engineering Task Force, is the first industry-standard solution that brings the native IP protocol to individual embedded devices such as wireless sensor nodes, allowing those devices to communicate directly with any other IP devices on the network.

Offering a comprehensive array of IP services, the Arch Rock software includes a pre-built binary image that, when installed on Atmel's RAVEN boards, exposes its capabilities through TCP and UDP services on a host PC. Users can access the networked, battery-powered RAVEN boards and exercise their functionality via telnet or by writing a program using standard socket interfaces. The software also contains demo applications that can be loaded directly onto the RAVEN boards to illustrate TCP/IP-based communication on low-power, embedded platforms.

"Arch Rock and Atmel are both committed to delivering flexible, scalable, easy-to-deploy wireless sensor networking solutions," said Roland Acra, Arch Rock president and CEO. "The 6LoWPAN standard is the vehicle that brings familiar Internet standards to this growing market."

"Our mission is to create cost-effective wireless sensor networking solutions for our customers. By working with Arch Rock we effectively extend the reach and lower the cost of IP-based wireless mesh networks, providing global visibility by bringing sensors on the web and the IP network," commented Magnus Pederson, Atmel's marketing director, MCU Wireless Solutions.

Availability

Arch Rock's 6LoWPAN software for the Atmel RZRAVEN Evaluation and Starter Kit is available immediately. It comes with the RZRAVEN kit or can be downloaded from Arch Rock's web site at http://support.archrock.com/asd.

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions. Focused on the consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets, Atmel ICs can be found Everywhere You Are. For more information, visit http://www.atmel.com.

About Arch Rock Corporation

Arch Rock is a pioneer in open-standards-based wireless sensor network technology. The company's products, which gather data from the physical world and integrate it into the enterprise IT infrastructure using IP networking and web services, are used in environmental monitoring, tracking and logistics, industrial automation and control. Arch Rock's founders, while at the University of California-Berkeley and Intel Research, did seminal research and development work on WSNs, creating three generations of wireless sensor nodes, mesh networking protocols, and the leading operating system for sensor networks. For more information, visit http://www.archrock.com.