The wireless mesh network and motes are managed and monitored by the Network Manager, an embedded platform used to configure, control and manage the WSN. The Manager also oversees network-wide wireless functions such as security policies, intrusion prevention, RF management, load balancing, and network optimization.

With this flexible infrastructure, the embedded intelligence in each mote ensures that networks can be built very easily, without the need for a site survey. This marked departure from the static infrastructure of the traditional point-to-point wireless network has enabled significant advances in ease-of-use and substantially lowers lifecycle costs.

The functions of the Manager are usually embedded in gateways, which typically connect through a LAN or WAN to the plant or enterprise network. A Dust-enabled WSN can be easily deployed based on the discovery protocols that enable each device to join a network and synchronize their transmissions. Once the system is up and running, intelligent wireless routing based on the dynamic conditions in the network allows motes to continually maintain connectivity by automatically reconfiguring as required. This ensures that the ephemeral nature of RF environments does not affect network stability, and peak network performance is maintained.

A failure in a portion of the network due to equipment malfunction or damage is quickly addressed through the self-healing nature of the mesh network. Even if large portions of the network fail due to a catastrophic event, the remaining functional nodes continue to provide critical parameter information to the control systems.

The self-configuring and self-healing network offers true zero-touch maintenance, promising years of highly reliable service.