|
In this article:
- What is a wireless sensor network
- Characteristics of a wireless sensor network
- Uses of a wireless sensor network
What is a Wireless Sensor Network
A wireless sensor network or a WSN is a type of computer network that consists of many distributed autonomous devices that are spread over a large area and use sensors to monitor physical or environmental conditions in a harmonic manner. This includes temperature, vibration, sound, pressure and even motion. Though the original application of wireless sensor networks was in the military, they are more commonly used for environment and habitat monitoring and other such civil areas including traffic control.
A wireless sensor network essentially consists of one or more than one sensor. Apart from this, such a network also features a radio transceiver or other such device, a microcontroller device and also an energy source which maybe either the main power line or a battery (the latter being more commonly used). The size of the sensor varies and the network may use of sensors as large as a shoebox or as small as a grain of dust. Similarly, the costs of such sensors may vary from a few cents to hundreds of dollars.
Characteristics of a Wireless Sensor Network
There are several characteristics unique to a Wireless Sensor Networks. These are as follows:
- Wireless sensors can store a very limited amount of power
- The sensors are usually small-scale and are not suitable to be used over a very widely spread geographical area
- Wireless sensor networks are not affected by strong or harsh environmental conditions
- Wireless sensor networks quite immune to node failures
- Nodes in a wireless sensor networks are easily transportable from one place to another
- Wireless sensor networks do not follow a particular network topology
- Wireless sensor networks do not need to be attended to constantly.
The nodes of a wireless sensor network are made by simple sensors that are small computers in themselves. They have a very basic or sometimes no interface and their components are limited. They usually have three parts:
- A processing unit which has very limited computational power and limited though it is enough for the function it performs
- A communication device which is used for communicating over the network
- A power source that helps the sensor to operate. This is usually a small battery.
Uses of Wireless Sensor Networks
There are many uses of Wireless Sensor Networks. These uses are of commercial and industrial nature and the mainstay is to monitor data which would otherwise prove to be very costly with wired sensors or networks. A major advantage of wireless sensor networks is that they can be easily used even in remote areas where they can function uninterrupted for years together without needing any ‘refueling’ or upgrade. The basic functions of a wireless sensor network are tracking, monitoring and controlling. A wireless sensor network is hence spread over a scattered area in order to collect as much data as possible through its nodes. Some uses of WSNs are:
- Medical monitoring
- Sound or Acoustic detection
- Environmental monitoring
- Animal Habitat monitoring (sometimes used by biologists)
- Tectonic plate or Seismic Detection
- Military observation systems
- Inventory and order tracking systems
- Smart spaces
- Process and activity Monitoring
A very important use of a wireless sensor network is area monitoring. In this, the network is spread over a region and constantly monitors a specific phenomenon or event. A typical example of such an application of WSNs is in the military which put it to use for detecting any enemy intrusion in a give battlefield without using landmines (which are usually unsafe and inaccurate). The sensors collect data regarding the change in conditions (such as heat, sound, vibration, pressure, light etc.) which is then transmitted over the network to a base station (or base stations) where it can be recorded and the necessary action can be taken by the related personnel. Thus, WSNs may be used as security systems.
|
