Introduction to

Wireless Sensor Network

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 Enabling Technologies
Embed numerous distributed devices to Network devices
monitor and interact with physical world to coordinate and perform higher-level
tasks

Embedded Networked
Control system w/ Exploit
Small form factor collaborative
Untethered nodes Sensing, action

Sensing

Tightly coupled to physical world

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Exploit spatially and temporally dense sensing and actuation
SENSOR NETWORK
Antenna
Server
Interface
electronics, radio
and
microcontroller
Soil
Sensor field
moisture
probe
Mote
Communications
barrier
Internet

Gateway

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 COMPUTER REVOLUTION

Original IBM PC (1981) MICAZ Mote (2005)

4.77 MHz 4 MHz
16-256 KB RAM 128 KB RAM
160 KB Floppies 512 KB Flash
~ $6K (today) ~ $35
~ 64 W ~14 mW
25 lb, 19.5 x 5.5 x 16 inch 0.5 oz, 2.25 x 1.25 x 0.25 inch

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 HOW DID WE GET HERE?

• Advances wireless technology

• MEMS, VLSI
• Bandwidth explosion
• Changes in regulation
• Cultural changes
• Wireless devices are everywhere and people
are receptive to new applications
• The concept of networks are ingrained in
culture
• Open source
• Computer Science
• Operating system theory, network theory
• Inexpensive compilers
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 SENSORS

• Passive elements: seismic, acoustic, infrared,

salinity, humidity, temperature, etc.
• Passive Arrays: imagers (visible, IR), biochemical
• Active sensors: radar, sonar
• High energy, in contrast to passive elements
• Technology trend: use of IC technology for
increased robustness, lower cost, smaller size

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 WHAT ARE WIRELESS SENSOR
NETWORKS (WSNS)?
• Networks of typically small, battery-powered,
wireless devices.
• On-board processing,
• Communication, and
• Sensing capabilities.

Sensors
P
O
W
Storage Processor E
R

Radio

WSN device schematics

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 WSN NODE COMPONENTS

• Low-power processor.
Sensors • Limited processing.
P
O • Memory.
W
Storage Processor E
• Limited storage.
R • Radio.
Radio
• Low-power.
• Low data rate.
• Limited range.
WSN device schematics
• Sensors.
• Scalar sensors:
temperature, light, etc.
• Cameras, microphones.
• Power.
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 VISION: EMBED THE WORLD

• Embed numerous
sensing nodes to
monitor and interact
with physical world

• Network these devices

so that they can
execute more complex task.

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EXAMPLES OF WSN PLATFORMS

PC-104+
(off-the-shelf)

UCLA TAG
(Girod) UCB Mote
(Pister/Culler)
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 BERKELEY MOTE

• Commercially available.
• TinyOS: embedded OS running on motes.

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 DESIGN CHALLENGES

Why are WSNs challenging/unique from a

research point of view?

• Typically, severely energy constrained.

• Limited energy sources (e.g., batteries).
• Trade-off between performance and lifetime.
• Self-organizing and self-healing.
• Remote deployments.
• Scalable.
• Arbitrarily large number of nodes.

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 DESIGN CHALLENGES (CONT’D)

• Heterogeneity.
• Devices with varied capabilities.
• Different sensor modalities.
• Hierarchical deployments.
• Adaptability.
• Adjust to operating conditions and changes in application
requirements.
• Security and privacy.
• Potentially sensitive information.
• Hostile environments.

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 DEFINITION :
WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK
 A network that is
formed when a set
of small sensor
devices that are
deployed in an ad
hoc fashion
cooperate for
sensing a physical
phenomenon.
 A Wireless Sensor
Network (WSN)
consists of base
stations and a Typical Sensor Network
number of wireless
sensors.
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 REQUIREMENTS
• Hardware: The main challenge is to produce low cost and tiny sensor
nodes. With respect to these objectives, current sensor nodes are
mainly prototypes. Miniaturization and low cost are understood to
follow from recent and future progress in the fields of MEMS and
NEMS. Some of the existing sensor nodes are given below. Some of
the nodes are still in research stage.
• BTnode (ETH Zurich) (http://www.btnode.ethz.ch)
• Atlas (Pervasa/University of Florida) (http://www.pervasa.com/)
• Mica Mote (Crossbow) (http://www.xbow.com/Products/productsdetails.aspx?sid=62)
• XYZ node (http://www.eng.yale.edu/enalab/XYZ/)
• WINS (Rockwell) Wireless Integrated Network Sensors)
• WINS (UCLA)
• SensiNet Smart Sensors (Sensicast Systems) (http://www.sensicast.com)
• Smart Dust (Dust Networks) (http://www.dustnetworks.com/ spun out of UC Berkeley)
• COTS Dust (Dust Networks) (http://www.dustnetworks.com/ spun out of UC Berkeley)
• Sensor Webs (SensorWare Systems) (http://www.sensorwaresystems.com/ spun out of
the NASA/JPL Sensor Webs Project)
• Hoarder Board (MIT Media Lab) (http://vadim.oversigma.com/Hoarder/Hoarder.htm)
• EYES Project (http://eyes.eu.org)

MEMS:Microelectromechanical Systems
NEMS: Nano-
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 REQUIREMENTS (CONT’D)

• Software
• Energy is the scarcest resource of WSN nodes, and it
determines the lifetime of WSNs. WSNs are meant to be
deployed in large numbers in various environments,
including remote and hostile regions, with ad-hoc
communications as key. For this reason, algorithms and
protocols need to address the following issues:
• Lifetime maximization
• Robustness and fault tolerance
• Self-configuration
• Amongst the hot topics in WSN software, the following can
also be pointed out:
• Security
• Mobility (when sensor nodes or base stations are moving)
• Middleware: the design of middle-level primitives between
the software and the hardware

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 REQUIREMENTS (CONT’D)

• Operating systems
• Bertha (pushpin computing platform)
• BTnut Nut/OS
• Contiki
• CORMOS: A Communication Oriented Runtime System for
Sensor Networks
• EYESOS
• MagnetOS
• MANTIS (MultimodAl NeTworks In-situ Sensors)
• SenOS
• SOS
• TinyOS

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 REQUIREMENTS (CONT’D)

• Middleware
• There is a need and considerable research efforts currently invested in the
design of middleware for WSN's. There are various research efforts in
developing middleware for wireless sensor networks. In general
approaches can be classified into distributed database, mobile agents,
and event-based.
• AutoSec
• COMiS
• COUGAR
• DSWare
• Enviro-Track
• Global Sensor Networks;GSN (Application Oriented Middleware for sensor
networks).
• Impala
• MagnetOS
• MiLAN
• SensorWare
• SINA
• TinyDB
• TinyGALS

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 HANBACK ZIGBEX

• Computing
• Atmel 8-bit RISC microcontroller
• 128KB Flash program memory
• 4KB SRAM

• Radio Transceiver
• Chipcon CC2420
• Radio range: (130m)
• Data rate: 240 Kbits/sec
• Frequency range: 2.4 GHz (ISM)

• TinyOS, Nano-Qplus(ETRI OS)

• RFID reader + RFID tag
• Base sensor + Multi-modal Sensor Board
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ZIGBEX MOTE

Mote node

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ZIGBEX- CC2420

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 WHY IT IS DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL
NETWORK

• Nodes are energy constrained

• Every node participating in the network can be
host and router
• Topology is dynamic
• No end-to-end reliability for data transmission
• Limited memory and processing power
• # of nodes in a sensor network can be several
orders of magnitude higher than the nodes in an Ad
Hoc network (100s to 1000s nodes)

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 WHY IT IS DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL NETWORK
(CONT’D)

• Densely deployed (20 nodes/m3)

• Prone to failures
• Topology changes very frequently
• Mainly use a broadcast communication, whereas
most Ad Hoc networks are based on point-to-point
• May not have global ID because of the large
amount of overhead and large number of sensors

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APPLICATIONS

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 APPLICATIONS (CONT’D)

• General Engineering
• Automotive telematics: cars, having a network of dozens of
sensors and actuators, are networked into a system to
improve the safety and efficiency of traffic
• Sensing and maintenance in industrial plants
• Aircraft drag reduction
• Smart office spaces
• Tracking of goods in retail stores
• Tracking of containers and boxes
• Social Studies
• Commercial and residential security

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 APPLICATIONS (CONT’D)

Agricultural and Environmental Monitoring

 Precision agriculture: Corp and livestock management and
precise control fertilizer concentration are possible
 Planetary exploration: Exploration and surveillance in
inhospitable environments such as remote geographic regions
or toxic location can take place
 Geophysical monitoring: Seismic activity can be detected at a
much finer scale using a network of sensors equipped with
accelerometers
 Monitoring of freshwater quality
 Zabranet: Tracking the movement of zebras
 Habitant monitoring
 Disaster detection
 Contaminant transport: The assessment of exposure level
requires high spatial and temporal sampling rates, which can
be provided by WSNs

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GREAT DUCK ISLAND MONITORING
PROJECT
 Starting time: Spring 2002,
• Mission:
 Participants:
• monitor the
 Intel Research microclimates in and
Laboratory at Berkeley around nesting burrows
 the College of the used by the Leach's
Atlantic in Bar Harbor Storm Petrel.
 University of California • Goal:
at Berkeley • to develop a habitat
 Task: monitoring kit that
 deploy wireless sensor enables researchers
worldwide to engage in
networks on Great Duck the non-intrusive and
Island, Maine. non-disruptive
monitoring of sensitive
wildlife and habitats

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 APPLICATIONS

• Civil Engineering
• Monitoring of structures
• Urban planning
• Disaster discovery

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 APPLICATIONS

• Military Applications
• Assessment monitoring and management: Status and
location of troops, weapons, supplies etc.
• Surveillance and battle-space monitoring
• Urban warfare
• Protecting highly sensitive systems
• Self-healing minefields
• Monitoring friendly forces, equipment and ammunition
• Targeting
• Battle damage assessment
• Nuclear, biological and chemical attack detection and
reconnaissance.

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 APPLICATIONS

• Health Monitoring and Surgery

• Medical sensing: Physiological data such as body
temperature, blood pressure, and pulse are sensed and
automatically transmitted to a computer or physician
• Micro surgery: A swarm of MEMS-based robots may
collaborate to perform microscopic and minimally invasive
surgery
• Tracking and monitoring doctors and patients inside a
hospital
• Drug administration in hospitals
• Elderly Assistance

Age-in-life
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 HOME APPLICATIONS

• Home automation
• Smart environment

Other commercial applications

• Environmental control in office buildings
• Interactive museums
• Detecting and monitoring car thefts
• Managing inventory control
• Vehicle tracking and detection

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