Cellular and Wi-Fi networks are good for connecting smartphones, tablets and laptops. But different technology may be needed when things such as parking meters and vending machines need to communicate. That is the thesis driving a crop of companies promoting a new breed of wireless networks. Silver Spring Networks Inc., a Silicon Valley company best known for developing systems that let utility meters transmit data on energy usage, is the latest to unveil a plan to connect a variety of industrial and consumer machines collectively...
Silver Spring Networks, a Silicon Valley company known for developing systems that allow utility meters to transmit data on energy usage, is proposing a new plan to connect the Internet of Things. The technology that it proposes using, called Starfish, is described by the company as having a potentially limitless range, due to its operation of a mesh network that passes signals along a grid of antennae; this is in contrast with most wireless networks, which operate with remote devices communicating with individual base stations that are connected to the internet. In an interview at his office last week, Mr. Silver, who was elected governor two years ago and has been working since then to improve New Jersey’s electric grid, said he had not yet decided whether or