Perhaps Ford (Wingcast) was the source of equity that was expected this fall and the Firestone debacle intervened.
If the following is so important as to involve the CIA, then how do all these things communicate if they are out of cellular range? Perhaps through GSTRF? Maybe the new equity will come from the CIA? Indirectly thru graviton?
Solomon D. Trujillo, Former Head of US West, Named Chief Executive Officer of graviton -- High-Tech Start Up Developing Wireless Sensor Networks That Will Facilitate Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications on a Massive Scale
Story Filed: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 9:01 AM EST
LA JOLLA, Calif., Nov 15, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Solomon D. Trujillo, former chairman and chief executive officer of US West, has been named chairman, president and chief executive officer of graviton, Inc., a La Jolla-based high-tech, development-stage company. graviton is developing advanced wireless sensor networks that will facilitate machine-to-machine (M2M) communications on a massive scale.
graviton's investors include Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, Early Bird Ventures, Mitsui USA, Siemens, Sun Microsystems, OMRON and Qualcomm. In addition, the company was one of the first investments made by In-Q-Tel, the CIA's new venture capital group. graviton is developing strategic corporate partnerships with a number of these investors as well as others.
"This is a hugely exciting opportunity," said Trujillo. "graviton is pioneering an entirely new realm, one that we believe will become extraordinarily significant and pervasive over the next decade. Wireless sensor networks are destined to become, in effect, the nervous system of our engineered world. M2M communications will enable the efficient and transparent management of all kinds of devices and systems, seeking human intervention only as required."
"We are delighted to have attracted a world-class CEO like Sol Trujillo to oversee graviton's future," said Brook Byers, a graviton director and partner with Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, one of the nation's premier venture capital firms. "graviton has incredibly innovative M2M technology and a very talented development team. Add to that Sol Trujillo's proven reputation as a manager, innovator and visionary and we have the powerful leadership needed to aggressively grow and commercialize this exciting venture."
The wireless sensor networks being developed by graviton have almost limitless applications, such as alerting a utility of a gas leak or tracking a patient's health via remote monitoring devices. graviton's solutions are equally useful for managing and monitoring multiple systems in large complex structures, such as power grids, office/residential buildings, and mobile services of all kinds. On a consumer level, wireless sensors will be inexpensive enough to find their way into appliances and other everyday devices, managing functions and alerting users to the need for maintenance or replacement.
Trujillo left as chairman and CEO of US West, one of the former Baby Bells, after helping to orchestrate the company's successful merger with Qwest Communications, which was completed in June 2000.
Former Presidential Science Advisor Jay Keyworth called Trujillo, "the first true digital telecom CEO." Under Trujillo's leadership, US West emerged as an innovative leader in the deployment of high-speed data services and advanced wireless services. The company's innovations included: several high-speed data solutions for Internet customers; the introduction of Advanced PCS, a digital wireless service enabling clients to use the same telephone number and voicemail box for their mobile, home and office phones; and a unique array of integrated products and services.
Trujillo currently serves on the boards of Target Corporation, PepsiCo, Inc., and Constellar Corporation. He is a governor of the World Economic Forum for the information technology industry.
He received an undergraduate degree in business, an MBA and an honorary doctorate from the University of Wyoming.
About graviton
graviton, Inc., founded in 1999 by Michael Nova, M.D., currently the company's chief technical officer, combines proprietary technologies in wireless communication, MEMS sensors, and object-oriented data management systems to create distributed, self-organizing, device-to-device communication networks. graviton sensor networks will enable the efficient and transparent management of all kinds of devices and systems with minimal human intervention. Dr. Nova was the founder of several other high tech companies including IRORI (Nasdaq:DPII). graviton is privately held and headquartered in La Jolla, Calif. More information about the company is available at www.graviton.com.
Backgrounder
"In the next decade, we are going to add sensory organs to our devices and networks. Processing plus sensors will set the stage for the next revolution -- interaction. We mean the interaction of electronic devices with the physical world on our behalf. Sensors do no just have to stop at mere sensing. The sensor decade will really be a sensor/effector decade, where devices will not only observe things; they will also manipulate them."
-- Paul Saffo, Institute for the Future
"In the next century, planet earth will don an electronic skin. It will use the Internet as a scaffold to support and transmit its sensations. This skin is already being stitched together. It consists of millions of embedded electronic measuring devices: thermostats, pressure gauges, pollution detectors, microphones, glucose sensors, EKGs ... These will probe and monitor cities and endangered species, the atmosphere, our ships, highways and fleets of trucks. Ten years from now, there will be trillions of such telemetric systems, each with a microprocessor brain and a radio. Consultant Ernst & Young predicts that by 2010, there will be 10,000 telemetric devices for every human being on the planet."
-- Neil Gross, BusinessWeek Magazine
About graviton
graviton, Inc. is developing an open core wireless data networking platform optimized for sensor traffic. graviton builds the hardware, interfaces and protocols to enable seamless networking of sensor communities and is ideal for low-bandwidth telemetry in hostile or noisy environments. Hundreds or thousands of sensor nodes can communicate bi-directionally (and among themselves) to a data hub that can be remotely managed. This revolutionary network architecture enables low-cost, high volume, reliable and scaleable sensor networks. The wireless platform is based on spread spectrum, CDMA, and other wireless technologies. graviton's integrated chipsets will offer dramatically lower networking costs, with greater functionality and robustness. graviton is developing a cost-effective library of modular components to address a variety of horizontal and vertical applications.
In the 21st Century, sensors will play an increasingly important role in the network economy as trillions of devices are interconnected in distributed wireless networks. By cost-effective management of data traffic from these networks, graviton's solutions and services will provide dramatic benefits to home, commercial, and industrial users.
graviton is supported and funded by a number of corporate partners, including Siemens, Sun Microsystems, Qualcomm, and OMRON, and by the company's primary venture capital group Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers. Initial wireless and MEMS sensor technology was developed and licensed exclusively from Oak Ridge National Labs and the Naval Research Labs.
graviton's core understanding of wireless technology, micro-mechanical sensors, and information management is enabling the company to create integrated systems. Combined, these technologies form the structure of a cohesive information management network, allowing customers to generate, manage, control, send, receive and continually update data from anywhere, anytime.
-- Wireless connections lower the costs of connecting sensors.
-- Information-management systems allow for robust, large-scale data
services over distributed systems.
-- Micromechanical sensor technology enables the detection of numerous targets with highly sensitive, low power, low-cost, tiny devices based on standard semiconductor manufacturing techniques
-- Remote connectivity of any information-gathering appliance is enabled via the Internet.
graviton has the expertise and proprietary technology to link these solutions together into a fully integrated
information-management network.
Examples of applications include:
-- Soft drink machines that measure flow levels remotely and adjust syrup usage for quality control
-- Utility companies improve reliability and efficiency of their power infrastructures with systematic monitoring of temperature and pressure levels throughout substations.
-- Commercial and residential facilities managers use wireless sensing networks to deliver peace of mind to their customers with enhanced control, security and convenience.
-- Remote monitoring of manufacturing machinery to balance manufacturing sub-component production levels, operation status, and abnormal operating parameters.
-- Construction machinery (such as road construction equipment and construction cranes) and commercial electronic equipment (printers, copying machines, networking gear) that can track cumulative usage and telemeter routine and non-routine maintenance needs from remote locations.
-- Commercial and consumer electronics equipment that measure usage - enabling new flexibility in usage-based leasing and renting of a broad spectrum of electronic equipment.
-- Fast-food preparation equipment that can measure equipment usage cycles and operating parameters (temperature, pressure, cooking time, etc.) and telemeter specification information for improving food consistency/quality across all store locations.
-- A multitude of applications in petrochemical plants to better monitor production flows and abnormal operating situations that could pose safety or future operational status problems.
-- Sensors in natural gas appliances that alert both the user and the gas company of gas leaks.
-- To ensure a safer workplace, multi-reporting sensing and monitoring devices assist companies and government agencies with wireless solutions that warn of toxic, airborne agents
-- Advanced and highly integrated home-based systems for monitoring infants, remotely measuring and communicating medical data, appliance maintenance, and security/safety information. Such applications are not new in concept, but until now cost-effectiveness has normally been an issue.
graviton is a privately held company founded in 1999 by Michael Nova, M.D. The company has headquarters in La Jolla, Calif. More information is available at www.graviton.com.
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