Ember (company)
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Ember was an American company based in
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
, which is now owned by
Silicon Labs Silicon Laboratories, Inc., commonly referred to as Silicon Labs, is a fabless global technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors, other silicon devices and software, which it sells to electronics design engineers and manufac ...
. Ember had a radio development centre in
Cambridge, England Cambridge ( ) is a city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of ...
, and distributors worldwide. It developed
Zigbee Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios, such as for home automation, medical device data collection, and oth ...
wireless networking technology that enabled companies involved in energy technologies to help make buildings and homes smarter, consume less energy, and operate more efficiently. The low-power
wireless technology Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided med ...
can be embedded into a wide variety of devices to be part of a self-organizing
mesh network A mesh network is a local area network topology in which the infrastructure nodes (i.e. bridges, switches, and other infrastructure devices) connect directly, dynamically and non-hierarchically to as many other nodes as possible and cooperate wit ...
. All Ember products conform to IEEE 802.15.4-2003
standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...
. In May 2012, Ember was acquired by
Silicon Labs Silicon Laboratories, Inc., commonly referred to as Silicon Labs, is a fabless global technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors, other silicon devices and software, which it sells to electronics design engineers and manufac ...
.


History

Ember was founded in 2001 by Andrew Wheeler and Robert Poor. Both were students at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
when they founded Ember with $3 million in seed funding led by Polaris Venture Partners with DFJ New England, Stata Venture Partners, and
Bob Metcalfe Robert "Bob" Melancton Metcalfe (born April 7, 1946) is an American engineer and entrepreneur who contributed to the development of the internet in the 1970s. He co-invented Ethernet, co-founded 3Com, and formulated Metcalfe's law, which descr ...
. The company began by making
mesh networking A mesh network is a local area network network topology, topology in which the infrastructure Node (networking), nodes (i.e. bridges, switches, and other infrastructure devices) connect directly, dynamically and non-hierarchically to as many othe ...
software for other companies' microchips and has since evolved to manufacturing
Zigbee Zigbee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based specification for a suite of high-level communication protocols used to create personal area networks with small, low-power digital radios, such as for home automation, medical device data collection, and oth ...
compliant chips itself. In 2003, Ember released its first chip, the EM2420, which was fully compliant with IEEE 802.15.4-2003
standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...
. Since then, Ember has released the EM260 Zigbee network co-processor and the EM250, Zigbee
system-on-chip A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with memory, input/output, and da ...
(SoC), and EmberZNet Zigbee Software in 2005. In 2007, the EmberZNet PRO was launched to provide software that supports the Zigbee PRO Feature Set. The Smart Energy Suite and new versions of Zigbee Development Tools came out in 2008. In 2009, Ember released its third generation chips, the EM300 series. In May 2012, Ember was acquired by
Silicon Labs Silicon Laboratories, Inc., commonly referred to as Silicon Labs, is a fabless global technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors, other silicon devices and software, which it sells to electronics design engineers and manufac ...
.


Products

Ember produces Zigbee chips, software and development tools.


Chips

* EM351 integrates a programmable
ARM Cortex-M The ARM Cortex-M is a group of 32-bit RISC ARM processor cores licensed by ARM Limited. These cores are optimized for low-cost and energy-efficient integrated circuits, which have been embedded in tens of billions of consumer devices. Thoug ...
3 processor, IEEE 802.15.4 RF transceiver, 128kB of Flash, 12 KB RAM, and the EmberZNet PRO network protocol stack which supports the Zigbee PRO Feature Set. * EM357 incorporates the features of the EM351 but has 192 KB of Flash for applications that require more memory. * EM250 SoC combines a radio transceiver with a 16-bit XAP2
microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...
. It has embedded mesh networking
software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
, on-chip debugging, 128kB of
Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...
and 5kB of
RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...
. It was designed for applications that require long battery life, low external component count, and a reliable networking solution. * EM260 Co-Processor combines a radio transceiver with a flash-based microprocessor. The interface allows application development with any
microcontroller A microcontroller (MC, uC, or μC) or microcontroller unit (MCU) is a small computer on a single integrated circuit. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable input/output peripherals. Pro ...
and tool-chain. Like the EM250 it was designed for applications that require long battery life, low external component count, and a reliable networking solution. * EM2420 was the first chip Ember created. It has since become obsolete and has been replaced by second and third generation Ember chips.


Software

* EmberZNet PRO is a Zigbee protocol software package that runs the mesh networking applications. It provides networking for applications such as
Advanced Metering Infrastructure A smart meter is an Electronics, electronic device that records information—such as consumption of electric energy, voltage levels, current, and power factor—and Telemetering, communicates the information to the consumer and Public utility, ...
(AMI),
home automation Home automation or domotics is building automation for a home. A home automation system will monitor and/or control home attributes such as lighting, climate, entertainment systems, and appliances. It may also include home security such ...
Networks (HANs), and
building automation Building automation (BAS), also known as building management system (BMS) or building energy management system (BEMS), is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, light ...
systems. It is compliant with all the Ember chips.


Development Tools

* InSight Development Kits provide the hardware and software tools needed for application development. * InSight Desktop allows for the programming and debugging of applications. It combines a packet sniffer, network analysis features, API tracing, and a virtual
UART A universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART ) is a peripheral device for asynchronous serial communication in which the data format and transmission speeds are configurable. It sends data bits one by one, from the least significant to ...
. * InSight Adapter is used for network and microprocessor debugging and for programming chips. * InSight USB Link is a FLASH programming device that connects to any PC via
USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...
and to Ember’s Radio Control Module (RCM). It contains the hardware and software tools that read and write applications and program FLASH memory on the chips. * AppBuilder makes network customization possible. It generates a template application that allows developers to tailor the EmberZNet PRO software to their specifications and complete the application, readying it for hardware integration and testing. It also allows configuration of the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) and generates source code application with places for the developer to insert their own OEM-specific code. * xIDE is a tool-chain that supports applications being written for the EM250. It has a C-language compiler, assembler, source-level debugger, and graphical editing environment.


Applications

* Advanced Metering Infrastructure ( AMI)/Advanced Meter Reading ( AMR): provides two way meter communications, allowing commands to be sent toward the home for multiple purposes, including “time-of-use” pricing information, demand-response actions, or remote service disconnects. During periods of peak demand, utilities use these networks to throttle high-load devices in participating homes. Utilities may also institute time-of-use pricing schemes, where the home area network (HAN) is used to communicate the current price of energy to the consumer. * Home Automation: allows household devices such as light switches and fixtures; thermostats and sensors; music, video and speaker systems; security controllers and appliances to network with one another to wirelessly automate the home. * Hospitality: allows for wireless networking of the devices in the room without the need for a retrofit. The doors and the devices in the rooms can also be remotely monitored from a central location. * Building Automation: provides building owners and property managers with HVAC, lighting, access and refrigeration control to monitor energy usage in real time to create more energy efficient environments. * Asset Management: allows for remote monitoring and tracking of assets and
cold chain A cold chain is a supply chain that uses refrigeration to maintain perishable goods, such as pharmaceuticals, produce or other goods that are temperature-sensitive. Common goods, sometimes called cool cargo, distributed in cold chains include fr ...
. It also provides container security in shipping. * Industrial Automation: wirelessly networks and automates industrial processes and allows for temperature, pressure and level sensing as well as providing temperature and flow control. * Defense: provides both battlefield and shipboard monitoring.


See also

* IEEE 802.15.4-2003 *
mesh networking A mesh network is a local area network network topology, topology in which the infrastructure Node (networking), nodes (i.e. bridges, switches, and other infrastructure devices) connect directly, dynamically and non-hierarchically to as many othe ...
*
home automation Home automation or domotics is building automation for a home. A home automation system will monitor and/or control home attributes such as lighting, climate, entertainment systems, and appliances. It may also include home security such ...
*
building automation Building automation (BAS), also known as building management system (BMS) or building energy management system (BEMS), is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, light ...


References


External links


Zigbee Alliance homepageXconomy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ember (Company) Home automation companies Building automation Personal area networks