Echelon Inc, the Los Gatos, California company where Rolm Corp founder Kenneth Oshman is a leading player, has won heavyweight backing for its concept of the Local Operating Network that would be used for tying together and controlling things like household appliances. Motorola Inc’s Semiconductor Products Sector and Toshiba Corp’s Semiconductor Group have both agreed to manufacture and sell the integrated circuits designed by Echelon that implement the LON System Local Operating Network under agreements that also entitle them to design and offer enhanced versions of the chips. A local operating network is a collection of intelligent, programmable nodes, each node including chips capable of sensing, controlling and reporting status to any other node as well as responding to messages received from other nodes. The company sees LON System applications ranging from simple networks switching building lights on and off through vehicle electrical appliance control systems to complex ones tying together process control and inventory tracking systems in a factory – and while industry groups are working on standards for their own sectors, Echelon has designed its system to provide universal, low-cost communications and control technology for use by multiple industries.
