Chapter 1: Motivation for a Network of Wireless Sensor Nodes

Chapter 1: Roadmap
  

Definitions and background Challenges and constraints Overview of topics covered

Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

Sensing and Sensors

 Sensing: technique to gather information about physical objects or areas  Sensor (transducer): object performing a sensing task; converting one form of energy in the

physical world into electrical energy

 Examples of sensors from biology: the human body
   

eyes: capture optical information (light) ears: capture acoustic information (sound) nose: captures olfactory information (smell) skin: captures tactile information (shape, texture)

Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

Sensing (Data Acquisition)

 Sensors capture phenomena in the physical world (process, system, plant)  Signal conditioning prepare captured signals for further use (amplification, attenuation,

filtering of unwanted frequencies, etc.)

 Analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) translates analog signal into digital signal  Digital signal is processed and output is often given (via digital-analog converter and signal

conditioner) to an actuator (device able to control the physical world)

Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

Sensor Classifications
 Physical property to be monitored determines type of required sensor
Type Temperature Pressure Optical Acoustic Mechanical Motion, vibration Position Electromagnetic Chemical Humidity Radiation Examples Thermistors, thermocouples Pressure gauges, barometers, ionization gauges Photodiodes, phototransistors, infrared sensors, CCD sensors Piezoelectric resonators, microphones Strain gauges, tactile sensors, capacitive diaphragms, piezoresistive cells Accelerometers, mass air flow sensors GPS, ultrasound-based sensors, infrared-based sensors, inclinometers Hall-effect sensors, magnetometers pH sensors, electrochemical sensors, infrared gas sensors Capacitive and resistive sensors, hygrometers, MEMS-based humidity sensors Ionization detectors, Geiger-Mueller counters
Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

Other Classifications
 Power supply:


active sensors require external power, i.e., they emit energy (microwaves, light, sound) to trigger response or detect change in energy of transmitted signal (e.g., electromagnetic proximity sensor) passive sensors detect energy in the environment and derive their power from this energy input (e.g., passive infrared sensor) resistive sensors use changes in electrical resistivity ( ) based on physical properties such as temperature (resistance R = *l/A) capacitive sensors use changes in capacitor dimensions or permittivity ( ) based on physical properties (capacitance C = *A/d) inductive sensors rely on the principle of inductance (electromagnetic force is induced by fluctuating current) piezoelectric sensors rely on materials (crystals, ceramics) that generate a displacement of charges in response to mechanical deformation
Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

 Electrical phenomenon:


Example: Wheatstone Bridge Circuit

 R1, R2, and R3 known (R2 adjustable)  Rx is unknown

Vout ! VCC

 Rx R2  v    R3  Rx R1  R2 

Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)

 Multiple sensors (often hundreds or thousands) form a network to cooperatively monitor

large or complex physical environments

 Acquired information is wirelessly communicated to a base station (BS), which propagates

the information to remote devices for storage, analysis, and processing

Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

History of Wireless Sensor Networks



DARPA:
  

Distributed Sensor Nets Workshop (1978) Distributed Sensor Networks (DSN) program (early 1980s) Sensor Information Technology (SensIT) program Wireless Integrated Network Sensors (WINS) Low Power Wireless Integrated Microsensor (LWIM) (1996) Smart Dust project (1999) concept of motes: extremely small sensor nodes PicoRadio project (2000) AMPS (micro-Adaptive Multidomain Power-aware Sensors) (2005)

UCLA and Rockwell Science Center

 

UC-Berkeley
 

Berkeley Wireless Research Center (BWRC)



MIT


Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

History of Wireless Sensor Networks

 Recent commercial efforts
    

Crossbow (www.xbow.com) Sensoria (www.sensoria.com) Worldsens (worldsens.citi.insa-lyon.fr) Dust Networks (www.dustnetworks.com) Ember Corporation (www.ember.com)

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WSN Communication
 Characteristics of typical WSN:
 

low data rates (comparable to dial-up modems) energy-constrained sensors most widely used WLAN protocols for wireless communications in general can be found in early sensor networks or sensors networks without stringent energy constraints

 IEEE 802.11 family of standards

 

 IEEE 802.15.4 is an example for a protocol that has been designed specifically for short-

range communications in WSNs

  

low data rates low power consumption widely used in academic and commercial WSN solutions

Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

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Single-Hop versus Multi-Hop

 Star topology:
 

every sensor communicates directly (single-hop) with the base station may require large transmit powers and may be infeasible in large geographic areas sensors serve as relays (forwarders) for other sensor nodes (multi-hop) may reduce power consumption and allows for larger coverage introduces the problem of routing

 Mesh topology
  

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Challenges in WSNs: Energy

 Sensors typically powered through batteries
  

replace battery when depleted recharge battery, e.g., using solar power discard sensor node when battery depleted

 For batteries that cannot be recharged, sensor node should be able to operate during its

entire mission time or until battery can be replaced

 Energy efficiency is affected by various aspects of sensor node/network design  Physical layer:


switching and leakage energy of CMOS-based processors

E CPU ! E switch  E leakage ! Ctotal *Vdd 2  Vdd * Ileak * (t

Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

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Challenges in WSNs: Energy

 Medium access control layer:
 

contention-based strategies lead to energy-costly collisions problem of idle listening responsible for finding energy-efficient routes small memory footprint and efficient task switching fast and simple algorithms for encryption, authentication, etc. in-network processing of sensor data can eliminate redundant data or aggregate sensor readings

 Network layer:


 Operating system:


 Security:


 Middleware:


Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

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Challenges in WSNs: Self-Management

 Ad-hoc deployment


many sensor networks are deployed without design

  

sensors dropped from airplanes (battlefield assessment) sensors placed wherever currently needed (tracking patients in disaster zone) moving sensors (robot teams exploring unknown terrain) determine its location determine identity of neighboring nodes configure node parameters discover route(s) to base station initiate sensing responsibility

sensor node must have some or all of the following abilities

    

Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

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Challenges in WSNs: Self-Management

 Unattended operation
  

once deployed, WSN must operate without human intervention device adapts to changes in topology, density, and traffic load device adapts in response to failures

 Other terminology


self-organization is the ability to adapt configuration parameters based on system and environmental state self-optimization is the ability to monitor and optimize the use of the limited system resources self-protection is the ability recognize and protect from intrusions and attacks self-healing is the ability to discover, identify, and react to network disruptions

 

Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

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Challenges in WSNs: Wireless Networks

 Wireless communication faces a variety of challenges  Attenuation:


limits radio range increased latency

Pr w

Pt d2

 Multi-hop communication:
  

increased failure/error probability complicated by use of duty cycles

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Challenges in WSNs: Decentralization

 

Centralized management (e.g., at the base station) of the network often not feasible to due large scale of network and energy constraints Therefore, decentralized (or distributed) solutions often preferred, though they may perform worse than their centralized counterparts Example: routing Centralized:
   

 

BS collects information from all sensor nodes BS establishes optimal routes (e.g., in terms of energy) BS informs all sensor nodes of routes can be expensive, especially when the topology changes frequently each sensors makes routing decisions based on limited local information routes may be nonoptimal, but route establishment/management can be much cheaper

Decentralized:
 

Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer 2010

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Challenges in WSNs: Design Constraints



Many hardware and software limitations affect the overall system design Examples include:
   

Low processing speeds (to save energy) Low storage capacities (to allow for small form factor and to save energy) Lack of I/O components such as GPS receivers (reduce cost, size, energy) Lack of software features such as multi-threading (reduce software complexity)

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Challenges in WSNs: Security



Sensor networks often monitor critical infrastructure or carry sensitive information, making them desirable targets for attacks Attacks may be facilitated by:
  

remote and unattended operation wireless communication lack of advanced security features due to cost, form factor, or energy

 

Conventional security techniques often not feasible due to their computational, communication, and storage requirements As a consequence, sensor networks require new solutions for intrusion detection, encryption, key establishment and distribution, node authentication, and secrecy

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Comparison
Traditional Networks General-purpose design; serving many applications Typical primary design concerns are network performance and latencies; energy is not a primary concern Networks are designed and engineered according to plans Devices and networks operate in controlled and mild environments Maintenance and repair are common and networks are typically easy to access Component failure is addressed through maintenance and repair Obtaining global network knowledge is typically feasible and centralized management is possible Wireless Sensor Networks Single-purpose design; serving one specific application Energy is the main constraint in the design of all node and network components Deployment, network structure, and resource use are often ad-hoc (without planning) Sensor networks often operate in environments with harsh conditions Physical access to sensor nodes is often difficult or even impossible Component failure is expected and addressed in the design of the network Most decisions are made localized without the support of a central manager

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