Communication System includes wireless LAN.
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Press Release Summary:
WhereNet G2(TM) wireless location and communication system provides single, wireless infrastructure for real-time location, messaging, telemetry, and 802.11b applications. It incorporates WhereLAN(TM) integrated wireless local area network, which serves as real-time locating system (RTLS) sensor and access point for non-WhereNet wireless LAN clients and applications. LAN access point is WiFi-certified to ensure vendor interoperation.
Original Press Release:
WHERENET ANNOUNCES G2, A SINGLE WIRELESS LOCATION AND COMMUNICATION SOLUTION FOR MANAGING MOBILE RESOURCES
New Customer, NUMMI, Among First to Benefit From Unprecedented Integration of Real-Time Location, Messaging, Telemetry, and 802.11b Applications
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-May 6, 2002-WhereNet Corp., the worldwide leader of wireless location and communications solutions for managing mobile resources, today announced another industry first: the WhereNet G2(TM) system, a next-generation wireless location and communication system that includes the WhereLAN(TM) integrated wireless local area network (LAN), which supports real-time location, messaging, telemetry, and communication. Together with WhereNet's innovative software solutions, the WhereNet G2 system provides a single, integrated wireless infrastructure for real-time location, messaging, telemetry, and 802.11 b applications. Based on WhereNet(R) advanced location technology and the company's IEEE industry standards-based wireless LAN, the WhereNet G2 system enables Fortune 500 customers to reduce operational costs, increase productivity, and realize dramatic return on investment.
The WhereNet G2 system has been adopted by New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI), the Toyota-General Motors joint-venture vehicle-assembly plant in Fremont, Calif. Like WhereNet's first-generation customers -Ford Motor Co., Coca-Cola, Meijer, and others- WhereNet G2 customers can expect a rapid time to benefit of about 90 days and a return on investment in 9 to 12 months. Because the WhereNet G2 system lets customers leverage the benefits of real-time connectivity between critical assets and the people and information systems that manage those assets, Fortune 500 supply chains can operate more efficiently than ever before by achieving a higher return on assets, increased throughput, and better customer service.
"A major problem with supply chain visibility today is that there really isn't any visibility at the plant or warehouse floor level. Supply chain management and ERP applications are handicapped by inaccurate, latent data," said Dwight Klappich, program director, application delivery strategies, META Group. "Companies increasingly need constant connectivity between mobile assets and data-starved information systems. WhereNet continues to make numerous innovations in this area."
Unprecedented Wireless Convergence
Today's enterprises rely on a host of disparate wireless systems for conducting day-to-day operations. Managing multiple wireless infrastructures for data collection and communication poses increasing challenges for IT organizations, which devote major resources trying to integrate all of the unrelated systems together into a common IT platform. The integration success rate is very low, and the compromise of functionality is very high. The WhereNet G2 single wireless infrastructure delivers an unprecedented solution for providing low-cost location, messaging, telemetry, and 802.11b applications for managing mobile resources in a local environment.
One Wireless System
Backed by two of the world's leading scientists in weak signal, digital-signal processing and a score of patented and patent-pending intellectual property, WhereNet developed G2 into the only single wireless infrastructure for managing mobile resources. The flexibility and scalability of the WhereNet G2 system opens a world of opportunities for enterprises to cost-effectively and rapidly deploy multiple applications for real-time location, telemetry, messaging, and 802.11b - all under a single integrated wireless infrastructure.
Multiple Applications, Unlimited Value
The unlimited power of G2 is ultimately realized through the application of the technology. WhereNet G2 applications give customers a competitive advantage by enabling them to reduce labor costs, inventory, spoilage, shrinkage, leasing, and warranty costs. The single wireless G2 infrastructure allows customers to select which applications to start with and then add more applications as their needs dictate. The G2 system can simultaneously support multiple applications from WhereNet such as Yard Management, Vehicle Inventory Management, Container Management, Asset Management, and Parts Replenishment. WhereNet G2 also supports an organization's existing enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, and inventory applications as well as applications developed by WhereNet partners.
"Anyone considering installing a wireless LAN or extending the functionality of a current system to manage mobile resources should seriously look at our economical, modular G2 architecture. Our solution is unmatched by any other in the world," said Dan Doles, president and CEO, WhereNet Corp. "Quite simply, we are the first vendor to reduce the costs and complexity of enterprise location and communications systems through a single integrated wireless system that supports a multitude of applications for managing mobile resources."
The Building Blocks of the WhereNet G2 System
At the heart of G2 is WhereNet's new WhereLAN(TM) system, which serves as both a real-time locating system (RTLS) sensor and an access point for non-WhereNet wireless LAN clients and applications. Through this cost-effective convergence of three wireless technologies - 802.1lb wireless LANs, wireless messaging (telemetry), and RTLS -WhereNet has extended and evolved its first-generation technology into a single distributed architecture. WhereLAN combines the core radio transceiver of a WiFi-certified access point with the computational power of WhereNet's locating radio into a compact package that shares antennas, power, and network connections to reduce overall infrastructure costs, reduce cable runs, and improve system reliability.
The entire WhereNet G2 system can communicate via standard wired Ethernet cables or 802.11b-compliant wireless LANs -the same industry-standard IT infrastructure already deployed in the majority of enterprises today. The wireless LAN access point is WiFi-certified to ensure vendor interoperation. What's more, the infrastructure was designed for indoor and outdoor use- allowing enterprises to extend wireless LANs outdoors. To simplify RTLS and wireless LAN design, WhereNet also offers WhereNet SystemBuilder(TM) tools for convenient, graphical, computer-based design and modelling of the wireless infrastructure.
WhereNet's G2 architecture utilizes many of the same components as WhereNet's first-generation RTLS architecture while supporting new non-WhereNet wireless LAN clients. The core components of the G2 system include:
- WhereLAN - A cellular network of locating access points, spaced 200 to 300 feet apart indoors and 700 feet or more apart outdoors, that can be configured to support both real-time location and wireless mobile clients.
- Transmit Devices
-- WhereTag(TM) transmitters - Extremely low-powered active radio frequency (RF) transmitters associated with an asset that report at regular intervals the location of the tagged item within 10 feet (3 meters).
-- WhereCall(TM) system - A wireless messaging system used for parts replenishment in industrial manufacturing environments.
-- Mobile devices - 802.11b-enabled laptop computers, personal digital assistants, handheld scanners, and other mobile computing devices that can be used for location-based computing and "virtual tagging."
- WherePort(TM) exciter - A magnetic exciter that extends the functionality of WhereTags by triggering them to transmit differently (based upon predetermined configurations) when in
range of a WherePort.
- Visibility Software Server(TM) (VSS) tools - A rich set of software development tools for integrating WhereNet, customer, and third-party applications. The VSS server also acts as the
central repository for all of the real-time location and communication data captured by the G2 architecture.
Pricing and Availability
Pricing for WhereNet G2 wireless systems and associated applications is based on the configuration requirements of a customer's system; a small WhereNet G2 system begins at $10,000. The WhereNet G2 wireless system is available from WhereNet and its distribution partners immediately.
About WhereNet Corp.
WhereNet is the first company to deliver a single wireless location and communication infrastructure that reliably and cost-effectively manages valuable mobile resources. Based on patented technology resulting from a collective 100+ years of development, WhereNet's real-time solutions have reduced inventory, lowered operating costs, and improved operations, delivering a complete return on investment within 12 months for some the world's leading companies, including Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Co. and Meijer. WhereNet's strategic partners include Fortune 500 bellwethers General Electric, Unisys, Symbol, and FMC. The company has received the Henry Ford Technology Award; was named a Top 100 company by Frontline Solutions in August 2001; and been recognized as a wireless innovator by Forrester Research, Computerworld ROI, Plant Engineering, and Supply Chain Systems magazines. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with offices throughout the United States and Europe, WhereNet is funded by Crosspoint Venture Partners, Foundation Capital, Bay Partners, Crescendo Ventures, Ford Motor Co., and Sun Microsystems. For more information, visit the WhereNet Web site at www.wherenet.com, or call 408-845-8500 (in the U.S.) or + 32 15 28 48 00 (in Europe).
