There are four compelling reasons for developing a plug and play standard for smart sensors.  IEEE 1451 is a developing standard that can make all complying sensors, instruments and systems work together with relative ease.  So far, only IEEE 1451.4 compliant sensors are widely available but commercial applications for the full standard set are in development and will be introduced by summer 2006.

1. There are more than 3,000 global sensor manufacturers. Trying to use a variety of sensors in a data acquisition system from different manufacturers can be very complex and requires expensive customization by the integration team.
2. A conventional sensor system has a lot of analog wiring and extensive switching. IEEE 1451 systems will greatly simplify development and installation of a smart sensor system.
3. IEEE 1451 compliant systems will cost significantly less to install compared to conventional sensor systems.
4. Several factors make IEEE 1451 the right standard at the right time to capitalize on the demand for smart sensors.
     – Semiconductor manufacturing techniques make it easier and cheaper to manufacture a wide variety of sensors in quantity.
     – Semiconductor manufacturing techniques can also be applied to nano development and manufacturing.
     – Low-power and power scavenging sensors can be wirelessly deployed to reduce the cost of installation.
     – IEEE 1451 enables networks of smart sensors to communicate. IEEE 1451 compatible sensors are even capable of setting up ad hoc networks.

Next topic: What does IEEE 1451 do?