WSN

Wireless Sensor Network

 Introduction to Computer and Wireless Sensor
Networks

Wireless Transmission Technology and Systems

Course
Outline Radio Technology Primer

Week-1
Available Wireless Technologies

Hardware - Telosb, Micaz

Motes
 During the first two decades of their existence, computer
systems were highly centralized, usually within a single large
room.
 A medium-sized company or university might have had one or
two computers, while very large institutions had at most a
few dozen.
 The merging of computers and communications has had a
profound influence on the way computer systems are
organized. Computer
 The once-dominant concept of the ‘‘computer center’’ as a
room with a large computer to which users bring their work Network
for processing is now totally obsolete (although data centers
holding thousands of Internet servers are becoming
common).
 The old model of a single computer serving all of the
organization’s computational needs has been replaced by one
in which a large number of separate but interconnected
computers do the job.
 These systems are called computer networks.
 Computer
Network
 Computer networks are built primarily from general-purpose programmable hardware,
and they are not optimized for a particular application like making phone calls or
delivering television signals.
 Instead, they are able to carry many different types of data, and they support a wide, and
ever growing, range of applications.
 Two computers are said to be interconnected if they are able to exchange information.
 The connection need not be via a copper wire; fiber optics, microwaves, infrared, and
communication satellites can also be used.
 Networks come in many sizes, shapes and forms. They are usually connected together to
make larger networks, with the Internet being the most well-known example of a network
of networks.
 Applications of Computer
Network
 Resource or Information Sharing – The goal is to make all programs,
equipment, and especially data available to anyone on the network without
regard to the physical location of the resource or the user.
 Communication – email or VoIP reduces phone bills.
 Desktop Sharing – Reduce Travel time and cost.
 E-commerce – To do online business.
 Security Services – Camera Surveillance.
 Scientific Computation.
 Social – WhatsApp, Twitter, etc.
 Computer Network
 Computer networks can be categorized as:
 Personal Area Networks
 Local Area Networks
 Metropolitan Area Networks
 Wide Area Networks.
 Internetwork or Internet
 The fundamental differences among LANs, MANs, and WANs are distance coverage,
transmission speed, media, and error rate.
 PANs (Personal Area Networks) let devices communicate over the range of a person. A
common example is a wireless network that connects a computer with its peripherals –
Bluetooth.
 LAN is a privately owned network that operates within and nearby a single building like a
home, office or factory. LANs are widely used to connect personal computers and consumer
electronics to let them share resources (e.g., printers) and exchange information. When
LANs are used by companies, they are called Enterprise Networks.
 Computer Networks
 A MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) covers a city. The best-known examples of MANs are
the cable television networks available in many cities. WiMAX is another example.
 A WAN (Wide Area Network) spans a large geographical area, often a country or continent.
An example is a company with branch offices in different cities.
 Many networks exist in the world, often with different hardware and software. People
connected to one network often want to communicate with people attached to a different
one. The fulfillment of this desire requires that different, and frequently incompatible,
networks be connected. A collection of interconnected networks is called an Internetwork
or Internet.
 NETWORK
ARCHITECTURE
 A computer network must provide general, cost-effective, fair, and robust connectivity
among a large number of computers.
 As if this weren’t enough, networks do not remain fixed at any single point in time but must
evolve to accommodate changes in both the underlying technologies upon which they are
based as well as changes in the demands placed on them by application programs.
 Furthermore, networks must be manageable by humans of varying levels of skill. Designing a
network to meet these requirements is no small task.
 To help deal with this complexity, network designers have developed general blueprints—
usually called network architectures—that guide the design and implementation of
networks.
 WIRELESS NETWORK

Over the past many years, the world has become increasingly mobile. As a result, traditional
ways of networking the world have proven inadequate to meet the challenges posed by our
new collective lifestyle. If users must be connected to a network by physical cables, their
movement is dramatically reduced. Wireless connectivity, however, poses no such restriction
and allows a great deal more free movement on the part of the network user.
 SENSING AND
SENSORS
 Sensors link the physical with the digital world by capturing and revealing real-world
phenomena and converting these into a form that can be processed, stored, and acted
upon. Integrated into numerous devices, machines, and environments, sensors provide a
tremendous societal benefit.
 They can help to avoid catastrophic infrastructure failures, conserve precious natural
resources, increase productivity, enhance security, and enable new applications such as
context-aware systems and smart home technologies.
 The phenomenal advances in technologies such as very large scale integration (VLSI),
microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and wireless communications further contribute
to the widespread use of distributed sensor systems.
SENSING (DATA
ACQUISITION)
 SENSORS
CLASSIFICATION
 Which sensors should be chosen for an application depends on the physical property to be
monitored, for example, such properties include temperature, pressure, light, or humidity.
 Besides physical properties, the classification of sensors can be based on a variety of other
methods, for example, whether they require an external power supply. If the sensors
require external power, they are referred to as active sensors. That is, they must emit some
kind of energy (e.g., microwaves, light, sound) to trigger a response or to detect a change in
the energy of the transmitted signal.
 On the other hand, passive sensors detect energy in the environment and derive their
power from this energy input – for example, passive infrared (PIR) sensors measure
infrared light radiating from objects in the proximity.
 SENSORS
CLASSIFICATION
 The classification of sensors can also be based on the methods they apply and the electrical
phenomena they utilize to convert physical properties into electrical signals.
 Resistive sensors rely on changes to a conductor’s electrical resistivity, ρ, based on physical
properties such as temperature.
 Capacitive sensors, which can be used to measure motion, proximity, acceleration, pressure,
electric fields, chemical compositions, and liquid depth.
 Inductive sensors are based on the electrical principle of inductance, that is, where an
electromagnetic force is induced by a fluctuating current. Inductance is determined by the
dimensions of the sensor (cross-sectional area, length of coil), the number of turns of the
coil, and the permeability of the core. Changes in any of these parameters (e.g., caused by
movements of the core within the coil) change the inductance. Inductive sensors are often
used to measure proximity, position, force, pressure, temperature, and acceleration.
 SENSORS
CLASSIFICATION

 Piezoelectric sensors use the piezoelectric effect of some materials (e.g., crystals and
certain ceramics) to measure pressure, force, strain, and acceleration. When a pressure is
applied to such a material, it causes a mechanical deformation and a displacement of
charges, proportional to the amount of pressure.
 The main advantage of piezoelectric devices over other approaches is that the piezoelectric
effect is not sensitive to electromagnetic fields or radiation.
SENSORS
CLASSIFICATION
Type Examples
Temperature Thermistors, thermocouples

Pressure Pressure gauges, barometers, ionization gauges

Optical Photodiodes, phototransistors, infrared sensors, CCD sensors

Acoustic Piezoelectric resonators, microphones

Humidity Capacitive and resistive sensors, hygrometers, MEMS-based humidity sensors

Vibration Accelerometers, gyroscopes, photo sensors

Flow Anemometers, mass air flow sensors

 WIRELESS SENSOR
NETWORK
 While many sensors connect to controllers and processing stations directly (e.g., using local
area networks), an increasing number of sensors communicate the collected data wirelessly
to a centralized processing station. This is important since many network applications require
hundreds or thousands of sensor nodes, often deployed in remote and inaccessible areas.
 Therefore, a wireless sensor has not only a sensing component, but also on-board processing,
communication, and storage capabilities. With these enhancements, a sensor node is often not
only responsible for data collection, but also for in-network analysis, correlation, and fusion
of its own sensor data and data from other sensor nodes.
 When many sensors cooperatively monitor large physical environments, they form a Wireless
Sensor Network (WSN).
 Sensor nodes communicate not only with each other but also with a Base Station (BS) using
their wireless radios, allowing them to disseminate their sensor data to remote processing,
visualization, analysis, and storage systems.
 WIRELESS SENSOR
NETWORK

Two sensor fields monitoring two different geographic regions and connecting to the Internet using their base stations.
 WIRELESS SENSOR
NETWORK
 The capabilities of sensor nodes in a WSN can vary widely, that is, simple sensor nodes may
monitor a single physical phenomenon, while more complex devices may combine many
different sensing techniques (e.g., acoustic, optical, magnetic).
 They can also differ in their communication capabilities, for example, using ultrasound,
infrared, or radio frequency technologies with varying data rates and latencies. While simple
sensors may only collect and communicate information about the observed environment,
more powerful devices (i.e., devices with large processing, energy, and storage capacities)
may also perform extensive processing and aggregation functions.
 WIRELESS SENSOR
NETWORK

 Such devices often assume additional responsibilities in a WSN, for example, they may form
communication backbones that can be used by other resource-constrained sensor devices to
reach the base station.
 Finally, some devices may have access to additional supporting technologies, for example,
Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, allowing them to accurately determine their
position. However, such systems often consume too much energy to be feasible for low-cost
and low-power sensor nodes.
 History of
WSN
 DARPA:
 Distributed Sensor Nets Workshop (1978)
 Distributed Sensor Networks (DSN) program (early 1980s)
 Sensor Information Technology (SensIT) program
 UCLA and Rockwell Science Center
 Wireless Integrated Network Sensors (WINS)
 Low Power Wireless Integrated Microsensor (LWIM) (1996)
 UC-Berkeley Smart Dust project (1999)
 Concept of “motes”: extremely small sensor nodes
 Berkeley Wireless Research Centre (BWRC)
 PicoRadio project (2000)
 MIT
 μAMPS (micro-Adaptive Multidomain Power-aware Sensors) (2005)
 WSN Communication
 Characteristics of typical WSN:
 low data rates (comparable to dial-up modems).
 energy-constrained sensors.

 IEEE 802.11 family of standards

 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 802.15.4 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.
 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.

 Mesh topology:
 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.
Single-Hop versus Multi-
Hop
 CHALLENGES :
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.
 CHALLENGES :
ENERGY
 Medium access control layer:
 Contention-based strategies lead to energy-costly collisions.
 Problem of idle listening.
 Network layer:
 Responsible for finding energy-efficient routes.
 Operating system:
 Small memory footprint and efficient task switching.
 Security:
 Fast and simple algorithms for encryption, authentication, etc.
 Middleware:
 In-network processing of sensor data can eliminate redundant data or aggregate sensor readings.
CHALLENGES : 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).

 Sensor node must have some or all of the following abilities

 Determine its location.
 Determine identity of neighboring nodes.
 Configure node parameters.
 Discover route(s) to base station.
 Initiate sensing responsibility.
 CHALLENGES : 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.
 CHALLENGES : WIRELESS
NETWORKING
 The reliance on wireless networks and communications poses a number of challenges to a
sensor network designer. For example, attenuation limits the range of radio signals, that is, a
radio frequency (RF) signal fades (i.e., decreases in power) while it propagates through a
medium and while it passes through obstacles. The relationship between the received
power and transmitted power of an RF signal can be expressed using the inverse-square
law:

which states that the received power Pr is proportional to the inverse of the square of the
distance d from the source of the signal. If distance is doubled, power requirement increase
to 4 times.
 As a consequence, an increasing distance between a sensor node and a base station rapidly
increases the required transmission power. Therefore, it is more energy-efficient to split a
large distance into several shorter distances, leading to the challenge of supporting multi-
hop communications and routing.
CHALLENGES : WIRELESS
NETWORKING
 Attenuation:
 limits radio range

 Multi-hop communication:
 Increased latency
 Increased failure/error probability
 Complicated by use of duty cycles ----- reduce by wakeup-on-demand or adaptive duty cycle
 CHALLENGES :
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
 Decentralized:
 each sensors makes routing decisions based on limited local information
 routes may be non optimal, but route establishment/management can be much cheaper
 CHALLENGES : DESIGN
CONSTRAINS

 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)
 CHALLENGES : 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.
Tradition Vs Wireless
Sensor
  Wireless Sensor Networks, Technology, Protocols, and Applications

REFERENC
By Kazem Sohraby, Daniel Minoli, Taieb Znati

E  Fundamentals Of Wireless Sensor Networks, Theory And Practice

By Waltenegus Dargie, Christian Poellabauer.
 Wireless Transmission Technology and Systems

To maximize the opportunity for widespread and cost-effective deployment of WSN, one
needs to make use of existing and/or emerging Commercial Off The-Shelf (COTS) wireless
communications and infrastructures rather than having to develop an entirely new, specially
designed apparatus. WSNs can use a number of wireless COTS technologies, such as
Bluetooth/Personal Area Networks (PANs), ZigBee, wireless LANs (WLAN)/hotspots,
broadband wireless access (BWA)/WiMax, and 3G.

PAGE 35
 RADIO TECHNOLOGY
PRIMER
 The electromagnetic spectrum provides an unguided medium (channel) for point-to-point
and/or broadcast radio transmission.
 Radio transmission is usually (frequency)-bandlimited by design. The analog bandwidth of
the channel (the slice of electromagnetic frequency domain used) determines how much
information (analog or digital) can be transmitted over the channel.
 A transmission channel in general, and a radio-based channel in particular, is never perfect
because it is subjected to external (and even internal) noise sources; noise has a tendency to
degrade, disrupt, or otherwise affect the quality of an intelligence-bearing signal.
 A lot of radio-transmission engineering has to do with how to deal with the noise problem;
the goal is nearly always to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio, subject to specified
constraints (e.g., bandwidth requirements, cost, reliability, power consumption, equipment
and antenna size).

PAGE 36
 Propagation and Propagation Impairments

 Issues of interest in radio design include, among others, propagation, impairments, environment (i.e.,
indoors–outdoors, unobstructed–obstructed, benign–hostile, etc.), sensitivity, antenna design, channel
bandwidth (analog and/or digital), and frequency of operation. Many design factors (e.g., propagation,
attenuation, impairments) are related parametrically to the frequency band in use. In particular,
directionality becomes more of an issue at higher frequency ranges; also, generally, bandwidth increases
as one moves to higher-frequency bands (given that larger portions of the spectrum are in principle
available).

 We focus on operation at 2.4 GHz.

 The most basic model of radio-wave propagation typically found in WSN environments involves
the direct or free-space wave. PAGE 37
 Propagation and Propagation Impairments
 In this model, radio waves emanate from a point source of radio energy, traveling in
all directions in a straight line, filling the entire spherical volume of space with
radio energy that varies in strength with a 1/(distance)2 rule (or 20 dB per tenfold
increase in distance); attenuation in environments that are not free space (e.g.,
waters, coaxial cable, heavily wooded areas, confined rooms or structures) is
considerably more severe.

PAGE 38
 Basic Phenomenon affecting signals

 Three basic physical mechanisms affect radio propagation:

 Reflection: When size of object is larger than the wavelength of propagating wave.

 Diffraction: bending of wave around sharp objects.

 Scattering: When size of object is smaller than the wavelength.

These phenomena cause radio signal distortions and signal fading.

PAGE 39
 Multipath

 Signal strength fluctuations caused by the fact that the composite signal received comprises a number of
components from the various sources of reflections from different directions as well as scattered and/or
diffracted signal components affect both mobile and stationary receivers, whether the receivers are indoors
or outdoors.

 In this phenomenon, called multipath, signal fluctuations can be as much as 30 to 40 dB.

 The intrinsic electromagnetic (radio) signal strength attenuation caused by these phenomena is called a
large-scale effect; signal-strength fluctuations related with the motion of the broadcasting or receiving
antenna are called small-scale effects.

PAGE 40
 Multipath

 Metallic materials as well as dielectrics (or electrical insulators) cause reflections. When
multiple signal propagation paths exist, the actual signal level received is the vector sum
of all the signals incident from any direction or angle of arrival.
 Some signals will aid (constructively reinforce) the direct path; others will subtract
(destructively interfere with or vector-cancel out) from the direct signal path.
 Channel performance varies with user location and time, and the radio propagation pattern
is complex. One needs to deal with multipath scattering from nearby objects, shadowing
from dominant objects, and attenuation effects from various physical phenomena. All of
these factors result in rapid fluctuations of received power; even when the device mobile
is stationary, the signals received may fade, due to movement of surrounding objects.

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