The End of Mesh Networking | DASH7 Wireless Sensor Networking Blog

The End of Mesh Networking | DASH7 Wireless Sensor Networking Blog


20 MAYThe End of Mesh Networking
Posted by PatBurns in SmartGrid, internet of thingsComments (2)
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“I have two very bold predictions,” he said during an interview at The Networked Grid taking place in Palm Springs. “In two years, nobody will ever choose to buy a mesh network again, and everyone that has already picked a mesh solution will be integrating commercial networking strategy to supplement it.”

This is just another example of the industry waking up to the limitations of mesh networking, in this example using SmartGrid applications. The use of mesh today in smart grid environments is entirely due to the poor signal propagation of technologies like ZigBee and its various 802.15.4 cousin specifications. ZigBee meshes because it is short range and can’t cut through walls and other RF-unfriendly materials. Cellular carriers see the same weakness for ZigBee, per this article, but only from the opposite end of the coverage spectrum: cellular has very long distance coverage with good signal propagation, albeit with a monthly service charge, high device costs, and terrible battery life.

Another reason mesh is promoted is due to the poor battery life of ZigBee. ZigBee nodes, especially those acting as routers for other ZigBee nodes, have batteries that die quickly as a result, thus the need to re-route a message to a node that isn’t dead. Sounds cool, sort of like the way the wired internet was architected, except the total cost of ownership is through the roof and the performance is weak when compared to better, longer-range technologies like DASH7 or even cellular.

The ZigBee folks promoted mesh as a cool marketing gimmick that just happened to reflect (and paper over) the inherent weaknesses in their technology. I know firsthand that there are some very cool military apps that can benefit from mesh (blue force tracking, for example), but these are the epitome of niche applications. WiFi can use mesh for backhaul, but this is beside the point when it comes to the internet of things, which is about the opposite of high bandwidth pipes. The internet of things and apps like SmartGrid monitoring are almost entirely about short, bursty messages triggered by sensors. We don’t need to stream YouTube videos in the internet of things (OK, OK in a few cases, perhaps, but this is .00000001% of the total node population 10 years from now). If you are thinking of deploying mesh today, you owe it to your company and your shareholders to think twice and really investigate the risks in deploying mesh if it’s outside the defense sector. Don’t take it from me, just listen to what the global cellular industry is saying.

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