Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) can be defined as a network of wireless devices that can gather and communicate information through wireless links. The gathered information will be sent to the base station or sink for further processing.
WSN can generally be described as a network of nodes that cooperatively sense and control the environment, enabling interaction between persons or computers and the surrounding environment.
WSN consists of a distributed number of sensors that cooperatively monitor chemical (e.g. Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Small organic compounds, and large organic compounds), biological (e.g. microorganisms), and physical or environmental conditions such as temperature, pressure, sound, motion, and vibration at a location.
WSNs nowadays usually include;
What is Sensor?
A sensor is a device that is capable of detecting changes. The sensor is a transducer, that measures physical phenomena e.g. heat, light, motion, vibration, and sound.
The sensor nodes could be equipped with various types of sensors, such as thermal, acoustic, chemical, pressure, weather, and optical sensors.
As various sensors are used, they can be utilized for building up many types of powerful applications. Each sensor has its characteristics and requirements.
Things to consider when designing Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)
Data aggregation is the process of collecting and gathering information.
Data reliability defines the accuracy and completeness of the data.
Localization is the process of identifying the current location of the node in a wireless sensor network (WSN).
Node clustering is the process of grouping the node into various clusters.
It is an efficient technique used in wireless networks for routing the data from the source to the destination. And it is the process of utilizing minimum energy to transmit data between source and destination.
It is the scheduling process of executing at a particular time.
It is the process of identifying the fault and solving it as well as enhancing the security of a wireless network.
What is a sensor network?
A sensor network consists of several sensor nodes (motes). Nodes are deployed either inside or near a parameter being sensed.
A sensor node is a basic unit of the sensor network, containing;
WSNs Architecture
Architecture refers to the physical arrangement of different sensor nodes (motes) in a wireless sensor network.
There are two common WSN architectures;
Flat architecture
In flat architecture, all nodes are treated equally. When a node needs to send data, it may find a route consisting of several hops to the sink.
Hierarchical architecture
In hierarchical routing protocols, clusters are created and a head node is assigned to each cluster. These nodes as the leaders of their groups have some responsibilities like collecting and aggregating the data from their respective clusters and transmitting the aggregated data to the BS.
Standards of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN)
Examples of standards of wireless sensor networks are;
Applications of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN)
Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) Topologies
The following are the topologies of wireless sensor networks;
Disadvantages of WSN
