Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is composed of
sensor nodes with various sensing abilities e.g. temperature, light, acceleration etc.
Sensor nodes collect the status of an object and send to the sink node. These
sensor nodes can interact with each other.
Wireless sensor networks are used to monitor the status of real time environment. The
sensor network consists of a number of
sensor devices which are deployed over a geographical area.
Sensor network protocols and algorithms possess self-organizing capabilities. WSN nodes encompass the following components: embedded processor, low-power sensing device, power module and
wireless communication subsystem. The embedded processor is used for collecting and processing the signal data taken from the
sensors. Their processing capabilities are utilized to perform computations locally and convey the required data only which is partially processed.
Wireless communication subsystem is used for data transmission. The power source consists of a battery with a limited energy budget.
Sensors make a measurable response if any change occurs in the physical condition like temperature, humidity etc. The communication technologies used in
wireless communication are RFID, Zigbee, IEEE 802.15.4 etc.
Sensor networks consist of different
sensor nodes such as acoustic, thermal, radar, seismic and visual able to monitor a variety of condition including humidity, temperature, vehicular movement, soil makeup, pressure, the presence of certain objects, noise levels etc.
Sensor nodes can be used for continuous sensing, event detection, event ID, location sensing and local control of actuators. The applications of
wireless sensor network can be categorized into military, environment, health, home, disaster relief. Different deployment technologies are used for
wireless sensor network: Regular deployment where
sensor nodes can be allotted according to a well planned, fixed manner. In such case data is travelled through a predefined path. This deployment is generally used in home
networks, industrial sector etc. Random deployment means distributed
sensor nodes over a finite area. When the
sensor node deployment scheme is not predefined, optimal positioning of cluster head becomes vital for energy efficient
network operation.
Sensor nodes can be featured with mobility where nodes can move to manage the deployment difficulties and passively moved about by an external force i.e. water, wind and vehicle. This type of
sensors is generally used in battle field surveillances, emergency situations i.e. fire, Volcano, Tsunami.
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Natural Computing in Mobile Network Optimization