Director, Network Development Center, Yokogawa Electric
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Micronode refers to non-PC terminal with specific applications. Unlike PCs, micronodes are not used for general purposes.
Jiro Sajiki, Director of Network Development Center at Yokogawa Electric, talked about the process of micronode development at his company, from its first micronode, HotNode, demonstrated at NetWorld+Interop 2001 Tokyo, to Mimisaki Annai, a music sample listening station. He also discussed the market opportunity for such micronodes.
Its first concept model HotNode was a micronode with temperature sensor. More than 100 of them were placed at various locations on N+I 2001 Tokyo show floor. Sajiki told the audience his unexpected finding. Scanning a Web interface that displayed temperature distribution, he could see which booths were more popular, as high temperature meant more people. Sajiki said this episode shows that a large number of micronodes on the network can produce information that cannot be acquired by one sensor device, leading to a dramatic change in information quality.
N+I Show Floor Temp Distribution with HotNode
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The next thing Yokogawa Electric did was to develop a generic micronode RS6, as the basis to develop micronodes for various specific purposes. RS6 handled all the networking functions so that developers could focus on application. It had RS232C port to connect sensors necessary for applications. It became popular among communication carriers and educational institutions as well as among IT solution vendors for prototyping "ubiquitous" remote sensing, said Sajiki.
These experiences lead to Mimisaki Annai, which Yokogawa made available in 2003. This is a simple wireless audio guide device. Its only direct input interface was a barcode reader, and only output to the user was MP3 audio. It used Wireless LAN for networking connection for easier setup.
It works by reading a barcode to fetch a matching audio file for playback. It was initially targeted for description of displays at museums, or sales promotion of specific products at retail stores. But the company received a business offer to use it as CD music sample listening station, leading to a next product called HotNavi-LE.
With HotNavi-LE, users can listen to any of 1.1 million MP3 files in database on the network, only by scanning standard barcode on the CD package. HotNavi-LE can be easily added in a store, just by placing new stations at necessary locations. Sajiki said that Yokogawa has received additional orders of this device.
He added that the next business opportunity with micronodes will be in core business of Yokogawa Electric. Factory automation is a fairly closed environment but requires a high level of security.
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