"Wi-Fi" entries
The role of Wi-Fi in the Internet of Things
When to use a star network.
This article is part of a series exploring the role of networking in the Internet of Things.
In my previous post we evaluated a point-to-point networking technology, specifically Bluetooth, to determine its applicability to our building monitoring and energy application. In this post, we will evaluate the use of a star networking technology to meet our application needs.
A star network consists of one central hub that establishes a point-to-point network connection with all other nodes in the network (e.g. sensor nodes). This central hub acts as a common connection point for all nodes in the network. All peripheral nodes may therefore communicate with all others by transmitting to, and receiving from, the central hub only.
Today, Wi-Fi is by far the most commonly used wireless star topology. It is deployed widely throughout many environments, providing near ubiquitous internet access in facilities such as schools, campuses, office buildings, lodging, residential homes and so on. The term Wi-Fi is not a standard, but a term trademarked by The Wi-Fi Alliance and covering a number of IEEE 802.11 standards along with details of implementation.
As in past posts, let’s take a closer look at the technology and evaluate WI-Fi’s capabilities against the nine key application attributes that characterized our building monitoring and energy management application.