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The devices are also called motes and are intended to shrink down to the size of a grain of sand, or even a dust particle. Each device contain sensors, computing circuits, bidirectional wireless communications technology and a power supply. Motes would gather data, run computations and communicate using two-way band radio with other motes at distances approaching 1,000 feet (300 metres).
When clustered together, they automatically create highly flexible, low-power networks with applications ranging from climate control systems to entertainment devices that interact with information appliances.
A typical application scenario is scattering a hundred of these sensors around a building or around a hospital to monitor temperature or humidity or inform of disasters, such as earthquakes. In the military , they can perfom as a remote sensor chip to track enemy movements, detect poisonous gas or radioactivity. In a hospital, they can be used to track patient movements.