Echelon wanted every switch, sensor and motor in a building to share one language. Its LonWorks technology put a small networking chip inside ordinary devices, so a thermostat could talk to a fan and a light could answer a motion sensor. Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Hitachi and Raytheon built it into their products. Apple's early chairman, Mike Markkula, sat on its board. In July 1998 Echelon went public, ten years and many losses after it started.

One Network for Every Device

Echelon began operations in Palo Alto in February 1988. Its products let equipment makers and systems integrators build open control networks in buildings, factories and transport systems. Devices from different makers could work together without custom wiring. The company sold chips, software and tools to those makers and earned more as they shipped. It lost money every year from 1993 to 1997, while the market slowly caught up.

Seven Dollars and a Long Road

Echelon priced 5 million shares at $7 in July 1998 and listed on Nasdaq under the symbol ELON. The company later sold its networking technology into electric meters and street lighting. In June 2018 chip maker Adesto Technologies agreed to buy Echelon for $8.50 a share in cash. The deal closed that September, and Echelon left Nasdaq after twenty years of trading there.

Cover: Flying geese and full moon, Utagawa Hiroshige. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for geese flying in formation (an echelon).