Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)

 

WSN - Basic Concept

• WSN is a wireless network consisting of spatially distributed autonomous devices using sensors to cooperatively monitor physical or environmental conditions, such as temperature, pressure, motion or sound at different locations.

• Each node in a sensor network is typically equipped with a RF transceiver, battery powered.

WSN - Characteristics

• Limited power they can harvest or store• Ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions• Ability to cope with node failures• Mobility of nodes• Dynamic network topology• Large scale of deployment• Unattended operation• Node capacity is scalable,only limited by bandwidth of

gateway node.

WSN -Radio Options for the Physical Layer in Wireless Sensor Networks

• IEEE802.11x• Bluetooth (IEEE802.15.1 and .2)• IEEE 802.15.4 • IEEE1451.5

WSN - Network Topology

 

WSN - Category

• C1WSN - Tend to deal with large-scale with massive data flows.

•  C2WSN - Tend to focus on short-range point-to-point, source-to-sink applications where low data rate, ultra low power and low cost are requirements.

WSN - Category

Category 2 WSNs: point-to-point, generally-singlehop systems utilizing static routing

Application - Home Control

• Sensing applications facilitate flexible management of lighting, heating, and

• Sensing applications automate control of multiple home systems to improve

• Sensing applications capture highly detailed electric, water, and gas utility usage data.

Application - Industrial Automation

• Sensing applications extend existing manufacturing and process control systems reliably.

• Sensing applications help identify inefficient operation or poorly performing equipment.

• Sensing applications help deploy monitoring networks to enhance employee and public safety.

Application - Others

• Medical Application•  Sensors and Robots•  Military Surveillance•  Habitat Monitoring

WSN - Research Challenges

• Power Consumptiono Exploit piezoelectric materials to harvest

ambient strain energy • Hardware Constraints • Node Unit Costs

Question?