Integrating wireless sensor networks with the grid

Integrating wireless sensor networks with the traditional wired grid poses several challenges. The technical challenges center on the development of sensors and sensor network infrastructure, including the need to comply with emerging APIs for grid and Web services. Process-driven challenges, which center on the development and adoption of new business models and applications, are driving this technology. We describe two widely different sensor network applications - emergency medical services and supply chain management - and describe how they fit into a new data-collection network based on the Hourglass publish-subscribe paradigm.