SAN JOSE, CA and BANGALORE, INDIA--(Marketwire - October 14, 2008) - Cisco (
NASDAQ:
CSCO),
Atmel and the Swedish Institute of Computer Science (SICS) today announced
the availability of uIPv6, one of the world's smallest open-source,
IPv6-ready protocol stack, which could enable every device, no matter how
limited by power or memory to have an Internet Protocol address.
This collaborative project builds on Cisco's expertise in IP networking,
Atmel's innovative low-power wireless hardware and SICS' knowledge in
embedded operating systems design. "uIPv6 has the potential to impact a
wide range of market verticals where automation is key, just as voice over
IP did in enterprise telephony," said Rob Adams, senior director of Cisco's
Corporate Development technology group.
"Smart" objects powered by a wide range of sensors and actuators are
poised to enable a wide range of next-generation applications in building
automation, industrial monitoring, smart cities and energy management,
among many other areas. These applications help transmit information in the
physical world about conditions or the environment (for example,
temperature, light, motion, health status) to locations where the
information can be analyzed, correlated with other data and acted upon.
The proliferation of such applications has however been held back by the
large number of proprietary or semi-closed systems, and the cost associated
with translating information before it can be effectively shared with other
devices and systems. The use of IP as networking technology has long been
recognized as the solution to this interoperability issue. Now, thanks to
unique lower-layer energy management mechanisms and limited memory
capacity, uIPv6 is highly power-efficient and ideal for most constrained
devices.
Open-source uIPv6 includes standard IP applications and can be easily
customized for specific requirements. It is integrated in the Contiki
operating system developed by SICS, which provides all the necessary
functionalities for networked smart objects. In addition, uIPv6's small
footprint and memory usage allows it to run on the most constrained
platforms. In particular, it was tested on Atmel's Raven wireless platform,
chosen for its outstanding low-power performance.
"Efficient, low-power wireless systems require ultra-low-power embedded
microcontrollers paired with excellent radio performance," said Magnus
Pedersen, Atmel's director of product marketing, MCU Wireless Solutions.
"The fact that Cisco and SICS chose the Atmel AVR Raven picoPower wireless
platform as the basis for their uIPv6 and 6LoWPAN implementation confirms
Atmel's leading edge in low-power embedded wireless technology."
uIPv6 is released under a permissive open-source license, and as a result
can be used for both commercial and noncommercial applications.
"An open-source, standard-compliant, small-footprint IPv6 implementation is
essential to enable the next generation of sensor network applications,"
said Adam Dunkels, senior scientist at SICS and Contiki project leader.
Patrick Wetterwald, president of the IP for Smart Objects Alliance (IPSO),
said, "By running an IPv6 stack, operating a network of sensors thus
becomes as easy as operating a network of PCs, IP phones, or any other IP
devices."
The new uIPv6 stack requires only 0.5 KB of SRAM for data structures, a
minimum of 1.3 KB of SRAM for buffering, and 11 KB of flash for the code.
The Raven platform embeds a microcontroller and a wireless chip using the
802.15.4 standard, designed specifically to accommodate smart objects'
requirements. uIPv6 includes an implementation of the 6LoWPAN standard, the
adaptation layer between 802.15.4 and IPv6.
Tags:
Cisco, Atmel, SICS, uIPv6, sensor networks, smart objects, IP for Smart
Objects Alliance, IPSO, Contiki, 6lowpan, 802.15.4, IPv6, open source
Additional Information
To download Contiki/uIPv6: http://www.sics.se/contiki
uIPv6 technical paper: http://www.sics.se/~adam/durvy08making.pdf
Atmel RAVEN evaluation kit:
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/Products/tools_card.asp?tool_id=4291
802.15.4 wireless standard specification:
http://ieee802.org/15/pub/TG4.html
6lowpan standard: http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/6lowpan-charter.html
IPv6 ready Logo Program: http://www.ipv6ready.org
IPSO alliance: http://www.ipso-alliance.org
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 (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide
the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on
consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive
markets.
About SICS
Swedish Institute of Computer Science (SICS), is a non-profit research
organization with approximately 100 researchers. The main office is
situated in Kista outside Stockholm with smaller offices in Uppsala,
Göteborg, and Västerås. The mission of SICS is to contribute to the
competitive strength of industry by conducting advanced research in
strategic areas of computer science, and to actively promote the use of new
research ideas and results in industry and in society at large. SICS
collaborates with both large and small companies -- in Sweden and
internationally. SICS research activities create value for industry and
society in many different ways, including people mobility, research
projects, scientific dissemination, and spin-off companies.
About the IPSO Alliance
The IPSO Alliance is a global non-profit organization serving the various
communities seeking to establish the Internet Protocol as the basis for
connecting smart objects by providing coordinated marketing efforts
available to the general public. The Alliance's purpose is to provide a
foundation for industry growth through building stronger relationships,
fostering awareness, providing education, promoting the industry,
generating research and creating a better understanding of IP and its role
in connecting smart objects. For more information, visit
http://www.IPSO-Alliance.org.
About Cisco
Cisco (
NASDAQ:
CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms
how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco
can be found at
www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to
http://newsroom.cisco.com
For direct RSS Feeds of all Cisco news, please visit "News@Cisco" at the
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Contact Information: Press contacts:
Marc Musgrove
Cisco
+1 408 525-6320
mmusgrov@cisco.com
Helen Perlegos
Atmel
(+1) 408 487-2963
hperlegos@atmel.com
Adam Dunkels
SICS
+46 (0)8-633 1614
adam@sics.se