The Cellar - View Single Post

tw · 12-08-2003, 05:08 PM

If your information sources are truly high tech, then Mesh Networks have been the hot topic. Let's backtrack. Electric Companies long ago began outsourcing their meter reading business to third party companies. Why? Reading electric meters would become obsolete. Meters are now typically read by the same system that also tells those with 'off peak' hot water heaters when to power on and off. IOW meter readers should now be obsolete in most every suburban and urban setting - which begs the question how patriotic (innovative) is your electric company?

The system that controls 'off peak' demand and reads your meter is called a mesh network. A combination of ethernet hardwired networks interconnected to 'workstations' by a chain of celluar wireless stations. A mesh network is a combination of an ethernet network of hardwired routers and a wireless repeater network. Redundancy means that if one wireless repeater or one area ethernet hub goes down, then adjacent 'cells' may pick up the load.

This may be the next wave - a hot technology for home, office, neighborhood, and campus networking. And what would it be based upon? Certainly not the long stagnent technology called Blue Tooth. Again and again, the old and resilient standard keeps ending up the dominate technology. IEEE 802.xx. In this case, mesh network development is now a cooperative development of Intel and Cisco using 802.11. Ethernet on wireless. Same fundamental technology that drives wireless hubs using IEEE 802.11a/b/g.

Rather amazing how technology pioneered by Metcalf and associates in early 1970 Xerox roundly defeats so many other competitive networking technologies (ie IBM's Token Ring, Apple's AppleTalk, or AT&T's circuit switching technologies). Also amazing how this same Xerox facility was not permitted to earn profits for Xerox. Companies such as 3COM, Apple, and Cisco demonstrate how profitable an innovation can be when not stifled by business school graduates. Some 30 years later and that Xerox innovation called Ethernet still keeps creating new profits throughout America - but not for a company dominated by MBAs - Xerox. (How did Xerox keep from going bankrupt? They had KPMG - their accounting company - cook the books since that is all an MBA really understands.)

Watch for 'mesh networking'. Notice what kind of companies pioneer innovative technologies. Companies located far from MBA central (East Coast US) and companies run by people who come from where the work gets done (a principle that business schools say is not necessary).

12-08-2003, 05:08 PM	#5
tw Read? I only know how to write. Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 11,933	If your information sources are truly high tech, then Mesh Networks have been the hot topic. Let's backtrack. Electric Companies long ago began outsourcing their meter reading business to third party companies. Why? Reading electric meters would become obsolete. Meters are now typically read by the same system that also tells those with 'off peak' hot water heaters when to power on and off. IOW meter readers should now be obsolete in most every suburban and urban setting - which begs the question how patriotic (innovative) is your electric company? The system that controls 'off peak' demand and reads your meter is called a mesh network. A combination of ethernet hardwired networks interconnected to 'workstations' by a chain of celluar wireless stations. A mesh network is a combination of an ethernet network of hardwired routers and a wireless repeater network. Redundancy means that if one wireless repeater or one area ethernet hub goes down, then adjacent 'cells' may pick up the load. This may be the next wave - a hot technology for home, office, neighborhood, and campus networking. And what would it be based upon? Certainly not the long stagnent technology called Blue Tooth. Again and again, the old and resilient standard keeps ending up the dominate technology. IEEE 802.xx. In this case, mesh network development is now a cooperative development of Intel and Cisco using 802.11. Ethernet on wireless. Same fundamental technology that drives wireless hubs using IEEE 802.11a/b/g. Rather amazing how technology pioneered by Metcalf and associates in early 1970 Xerox roundly defeats so many other competitive networking technologies (ie IBM's Token Ring, Apple's AppleTalk, or AT&T's circuit switching technologies). Also amazing how this same Xerox facility was not permitted to earn profits for Xerox. Companies such as 3COM, Apple, and Cisco demonstrate how profitable an innovation can be when not stifled by business school graduates. Some 30 years later and that Xerox innovation called Ethernet still keeps creating new profits throughout America - but not for a company dominated by MBAs - Xerox. (How did Xerox keep from going bankrupt? They had KPMG - their accounting company - cook the books since that is all an MBA really understands.) Watch for 'mesh networking'. Notice what kind of companies pioneer innovative technologies. Companies located far from MBA central (East Coast US) and companies run by people who come from where the work gets done (a principle that business schools say is not necessary).