CALIFORNIA: A panel of experts has been set up to discuss the future of wireless sensor networks at the Embedded Systems Conference, which will be held on April 26-29, 2010, at the McEnery Convention Centre in San Jose, California, the United States.

The panel will have four experts, who will provide insight into the topic.

Till recently, collections of autonomous smart wireless sensors that could connect together to form ad hoc networks were not practical. In the late 1990s, it became clear that Moore’s Law will eventually boost performance and bring down power consumption and form factor, to the point where they would be possible.

A statement from the organisers of the Embedded Systems Conference said that the juxtaposition of sensors (and potentially actuators), conversion circuits, digital logic, power and power management and wireless transceivers is a powerful combination since it is, in essence, the superset template for a vast swathe of electronic systems. This means that wireless sensor networks are not only becoming possible but also they are set to be revolutionary.

Like in the case of many technologies, wireless sensor networks have gone through fluctuations of optimism and despondency on account of practical problems in application.