Wireless Sensor Networks (CS 6115)

Lect #1 & 2
Spring 2023- 24

Prof. Suchismita Chinara

Department of Computer Science and Engineering
E-mail: suchismita@nitrkl.ac.in

1
 Types of Computer Networks
• Wired
– Ethernet
– Fiber optics
• Wireless
– Infrastructured
• Cellular Network
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
– Infrastructure less
• MANET (Mobile Ad Hoc Network)
• VANET (Vehicular Ad Hoc Network)
• WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) 2
 Why WSN???
• WSN is a combination of
many nodes that have
sensors, controllers that
are used to sense and
monitor the data and the
environment interaction.
• This helps in establishing
connectivity between
computing devices,
individuals, and
surroundings.
• Components of WSN
– Sensing
– Communicating
– Processing

3
 Wireless Sensor Networks(WSN)
• A Wireless sensor network can be defined as a
network of large number of distributed, self-
directed, tiny, low powered devices called sensor
nodes to monitor physical or environmental
conditions, such as temperature, sound, pressure,
etc. and to cooperatively pass their data through the
network to other locations.

• The data is forwarded through multiple nodes, and

with a gateway, the data is connected to other
networks like Ethernet.
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 Wireless Sensor Networks
Components

Sensor
field
Inaccessible
Environmen
t

Senso
rs

To External
network

Sink Wireless
or Communication
Base station link
(BS)

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 Component used in WSN: Sensor

• A Sensor is a device that responds and detects

some type of input from both the physical or
environmental conditions, such as pressure, heat,
light, etc.

• The output of the sensor is generally an electrical

signal that is transmitted to a controller for further
processing.

• It has different units like : Power unit, Sensing

unit, Processing unit, Communication unit

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 Component used in WSN: Sensor

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 Component used in WSN: Sink /
Base station
• A sink or base station acts like an interface
between users and the network.
• It is responsible for collecting data from
Wireless Sensors in single or multiple-hop
manner and then send it to user through
gateway.
• Also play an important role in improving
energy efficiency of sensor nodes by
scheduling more resources for the nodes.

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 Ex: WSN with Sink Node

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 Transmission media
⮚In Wireless sensor network, communicating
nodes are linked by a wireless medium. To
achieve this they choose any transmission
medium such as.

⮚Radio
⮚infrared
⮚optical media

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 Advantages of WSN

⮚It avoids plenty of wiring.

⮚Execution pricing is inexpensive.
⮚Apt for the non-reachable places like
mountains, over the sea, rural areas and deep
forests.
⮚Network arrangements can be carried out
without fixed infrastructure.
⮚Flexible if there is a casual situation when an
additional workstation is required.

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 Applications of WSN
• Traditionally, sensor networks have been used in the
context of high-end applications such as:

– Military applications
– Home applications
– Commercial applications
– Health applications
– Agricultural Applications

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 Military
applications

Monitoring friendly Monitoring battlefield

forces and equipment surveillance

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 Environmental
applications

Ecosystems mapping

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 Environmental applications

Eruption
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 Home applications

– Home
automation
– Instrumented
environment
– Automated
meter reading

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 Commercial applications

Traffic flow Vehicle tracking and

surveillance detection
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 Commercial applications

Environmental control in office Building

buildings construction
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 Commercial applications

Monitoring Heavy Bridge

conditions
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 Health applications

– Remote monitoring
of physiological data
– Tracking and
monitoring doctors
and patients inside a
hospital
– Drug administration
– Elderly assistance

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 Health applications

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 Agricultural
Applications
⮚ Monitor different
parameters around
the field like soil
moisture, humidity,
ambient
temperature etc

⮚ water resource
management
system to facilitate
farming.

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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
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)
– 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 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
 Challenges in WSNs: Wireless Networks

• Wireless communication faces a variety of challenges

• Attenuation:
– limits radio range
• Multi-hop communication:
– increased latency
Challenges in WSNs: Design Constraints

– 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)
 Function of WSN:
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)
 WSN Communication:
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