Libelium Meshlium Xtreme multi-protocol router supports five wireless standards - WiFi, ZigBee, GPRS, Bluetooth and GPS – as well as wireline Ethernet, to help connect wireless sensor networks to the Internet. Libelium said it is the first multi-protocol wireless router to bridge ZigBee and the Internet.

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Libelium Meshlium Xtreme multi-protocol router supports five wireless standards - WiFi, ZigBee, GPRS, Bluetooth and GPS – as well as wireline Ethernet, to help connect wireless sensor networks to the Internet. Libelium said in the March 16 announcement this is the first multi-protocol wireless router to bridge ZigBee and the Internet. The product also supports storage of sensor data in an internal database system and with external Internet servers. 

Libelium’s CTO, David Gascón, said, Meshlium Xtreme offers flexibility through a choice of three Internet connections. including Ethernet and GPRS and two storage options in data base servers. In addition, SMS alarms can be sent in real time to mobile phones using the GSM mobile phone network. The WiFi Mesh radio and antennas can work at both 2.4GHz (802.11b/g) and 5GHz (802.11a), so it is possible to change the WiFi radio frequency dynamically without any physical changes to the router itself. Meshlium clients can use the WiFi AP radio to access internally-stored sensor data and as an access point for the Internet. The Bluetooth module includes a "discover and store" application, which allows Meshlium to scan and store the MAC addresses of users in a database to track their routes.

For mobile applications, a GPS module enables real time location by providing parameters such as latitude, longitude and speed in real time. The product is supplied with an aluminium IP67 waterproof enclosure which makes it suitable for any kind of outdoor deployment including those with harsh environments. Special holders enable Meshlium Xtreme to be installed on streetlights and in vehicles - where a car battery adaptor supplies the router with power. When deploying in outdoor scenarios, where there is not an electric power source, a solar panel kit works supplies the necessary power. Meshlium Xtreme includes the Manager System, an open source web application, which provides a user-friendly interface to all wireless connections (WiFi, ZigBee, Bluetooth, GPRS) as well as to the network status and the data base storage system.

”All of these features enable Meshlium to be used out of the box” explains Libelium's CTO David Gascón. The product runs a Linux system based on Debian with the package system available. Developers can easily use this to install any library (python, java, php, etc) and service (such as apache, ftp, mail) that they need to extend Meshlium Xtreme to meet the needs of their applications. The router’s modular architecture enables different combinations of the radio modules to be used depending on the end application. Ten configurations are available to best match radio requirements.

Meshlium Xtreme is CE and FCC certified and is ideally suited to be the gateway for wireless sensor networks implemented with the Libelium Waspmote platform.

http://www.libelium.com/meshlium

http://www.libelium.com/waspmote

Also see www.controleng.com/wireless and http://www.controleng.com/new-products/industrial-networks.html

- Edited by Mark T. Hoske, CFE Media, Control Engineering, www.controleng.com