Technological Advancement in Wireless Communications, Electronics, and Sensor Networking - Essay Example

SENSOR NETWORKS Name Institution Instructor Date Abstract Current growth in wireless communication networks and electronics has lead to an advancement of cheaper sensor networks. This growth has been enhanced by the exponential growth of semiconductor technology. The computing capacity has grown exponentially smaller and cheaper. There are various areas of application where sensor networks are applied. Wireless sensors are being applied in many situations in monitoring remote, difficult and inaccessible location. In choosing a wireless approach, a vendor should consider various technology tradeoffs. This article captures sensor network structure in modern technology. The report also analyzes various applications that apply sensor networks and new advancement in this field. Technological advancement in wireless communications and electronics has improved efficiency in sensor networking (Ilyas 2006).Smaller sensors nodes of low power and cost have been invented. A sensor node is made of components that sense, communicate and process data. Sensor networks represent tremendous technological advancement from the traditional sensors (Ilyas 2006) Sensor Network This is a group of special transducer containing communication infrastructure used to monitor and record conditions within diverse locations (Issakar 2014). The most commonly monitored parameters include temperature, humidity, pollution levels, pressure, sound intensity, and illumination intensity functions. A sensor network is made up of various detection stations called sensor nodes that are portable, smaller and lightweight. Each sensor node has a transducer, microcomputer transceiver and a source of power. Transducer generates electric signals that are based on physical phenomenon and effects. The microcomputers help in processing and storing sensor output (Issakar 2014). Transceivers, on the other hand, receive commands from the core computer, relaying this information to another computer. Every sensor node delivers its power from a battery. Sensor nodes are deployed within a sensor network. The location of sensor nodes is random and need not be predetermined. This facilitates deployment in various locations that may be inaccessible. A Sensor network is unique in that, protocol and algorithm can organize themselves. This cooperative effort is another crucial feature of Sensor networks. They processors that use their processing abilities in computing and transmitting the required and processed data (Akyidiz et al., 2002). There are various factors to consider when designing a Sensor network: design of a sensor network is influenced by the following factors, tolerance of faults, scalability, the cost of production, sensor network topology, working environment, availability of hardware , power consumption and transmission media. Above factors offer a guide in designing a sensor network. The factors also help in the comparison of different schemes Network Sensor layers There are five layers in a sensor network that include: application layer, the transport layer, network layer, data link layer and physical layer. In addition to the five layers are three cross layers that include: the task management plane, mobility management plane, and the power management plane. These layers manage network and make sensors work together and increase the overall efficiency of the network. The Application layer This layer manages traffic and provides software to various applications that translate the data in a form that can be understood or sends a query to acquire given information. There are three application layers protocols in this layer namely: Sensor Management Protocol (SMP), Task Assignment and Data Advertisement Protocol (ADAP), and Sensor Query and Data Dissemination Protocol (SQDDP). Sensor Management Protocols (SMP) is used by system administrators for interaction within the sensor network. Sensor networks contain unique nodes that are infrastructure less. SMP access nodes using specialized software .These software help to: Move sensor nodes, turn sensor nodes on and off, timely synchronization of Sensor nodes, exchanging data relating to searching location algorithms, authenticity, distribution and securing data in communication. Task Assignment and Data Advertisement Protocol (ADAP) help to disseminate interests and advertising data. Sensor nodes avails data to users, who then query the same information. Sensor Query and Data dissemination Protocol (SQDDP) offer users’ application with interface that issue and receives incoming replies. The queries are however not issued from specific nodes but location base named is used oftenly. The transport layer This second layer maintains the flow of the data whenever Sensor network needs it. The layer is also responsible for task management within the Sensor node, monitoring power and distribution of tasks. The layer is required if the system is accessed either via internet or external networks. TCP matches the characteristic of sensor network owing to its current transferring mechanism. However, approaches like TCP splitting are necessary in making sensor network interaction with other network like internet possible. TCP connection is an ended at sink node, thus a unique transport layer protocols may deal with communication within sink nodes and sensor node. Consequently, the users and sink node communication is via TCP or UDP through either the internet or satellites. Since every sensor node is limited in memory, communication within sink and sensor node is by UDP protocol. The Network layer The main function is routing. In this layer, reliable and redundant paths are defined depending on various scales known as metrics that vary from one quire to another. There are many routing protocols in this layer, for example, flat routing, and hierarchal routing. In a sequence driven protocol, data is sent periodically and f time driven for applications that require periodic monitoring. In a case of event-driven and query driven protocol, the sensor responds following actions or the user query. Data redundant sensors are installed in to provide full coverage even when failure is experienced. Where redundant sensors provide repeated data and sensors that are sending data on multi-hop style and sometimes like flood protocols each sensor forwards data to neighbors and neighbors forward data to neighbors. One node receives repeated data from different neighbors, and this data can be generated from the same origin node or produced by a redundant node. Data processing uses less power than data transmission and; therefore, this problem can be fixed well through data aggregation and data fusion to eliminate data redundancy. The main challenge of this layer is saving power, smaller memory, and buffers In designing a network layer the following factor should be considered: electrical power efficiency, aggregation of data and the collaborative effort of sensor nodes. Within this layer, an energy efficient route is found using available Power (AP) either within the node or energy needed for transmission. Data link layer The layer detects data frames; multiplex data streams, facilitates medium access, and regulates errors. This layer ensures complete Point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections within network. Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol is a wireless sensor in the data link layer that creates network infrastructure. There are many sensor nodes spread in a Sensor field, and the MAC helps in establishing communications to facilitate transfer of data. MAC, therefore, facilitates efficient sharing of resources between the Sensor nodes. Control of errors in data link layer happens in two modes; forward error control (FEC) and automatic repeat request (ARQ). The ARQ importance in a multihop sensor network is reduced by adding retransmission energy overheads. It is important to note that decoding is usually higher in FEC because errors corrections capability requires being in built. Simpler errors control codes that have lower technicalities in either encoding or decoding help to solve this anomaly. The Physical layer This provides an interface that transmits streams of bit over the physical layer medium. This layer helps in data encryption, generation of a carrier frequency, detecting signals, modulation, and selecting frequency. In producing a physical layer for sensor networks, energy reduction should assume a critical role above propagation and fading effect owing to the fact that longer distances cable is costly. Research proves that power begin to reducing with a higher exponentials within smaller distances for low antennas height. Designers should exploit inbuilt diversities while trying to solve this problem. Choosing the best modulation is vital for reliable communications within sensor networks. M-ray scheme decreases transmission with time through sending various bits per symbol, resulting to circuitry complexity thus increasing power consumption by radio. (Gungor 2010). On the other hand, the binary modulator scheme better. This is because of lower power applied in sensor networks (Gungor 2010) In addition to above network layers there are three planes that improve efficiency within a sensor network discussed as follows. Power management plane regulates power usage in a Sensor Node. For instance, the sensor node turns off its receiver after receiving a signal from its neighbor, helping to avoid duplication of messages. If the level of power within the nodes reduces, Sensor node sends a signal to neighboring nodes. When the power level of the nodes is low and cannot participate in routing. The remaining power is reserved for sensing. Mobility management planes detect and register movement of Sensor Nodes thus maintaining a route back to final user. This enables the Sensor node to keep tracks of its neighbors. This facilitates balancing of power and activity usage. The task management plane aid in balancing and rescheduling tasks in given regions. All sensors are not required in performing this sensing task simultaneously. Sensors nodes executes differently according to their power consumption. Management planes are required to facilitate Sensor Nodes working in a power efficient way, rote information within mobile sensor networks and sharing of resources among Sensor Nodes Example of application using sensor network There are many applications that use Sensor Networks. This entail: health, military and homes. In the military, sensor networks are used to military command, communications surveillance, computing and targeting systems. This is because sensor networks are critical in self-organization and fault tolerance. Other applications in the commercial industry include inventory management, product quality monitoring and disaster management. Sensor nodes are also applied in the health sector to monitor patients and help disabled ones. . Sensor networks have broad applications such as WiMax and WABAN in medicine as explained below (Niyato 2007). WiMax WiMax refers to a security wireless transmitting medium applied in medical field (Niyato 2007). It has a higher mobile capability of 150km/hr, covering a distance of not less than 50 kilometers with 70 Mbps. The standard is used in various radio transmitting technologies like adaptive modulation and coding (AMC, and adaptive forward error correction (FEC), good defined quality of services (QoS) frameworks and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (ODFM). WiMax technology represents perfect choice of telemedicine services provision within stationary and mobile environment owing to mobility, security and transmission speed advantage (Fong 2011). Delays in transmitting images of high quality like ultrasound and radiographic images may be decreased by higher bandwidth transmissions. Large network availability facilitates simultaneous monitoring and diagnostic. The strong QoS is crucial since it boost reliability and efficiency of transmitting the data age (Fong 2011). For example, diagnostic images of a patient in an ambulance can be transmitted to hospitals for doctors to start diagnosis before the patient arrives. WiMax may also be used by regional hospitals in offering telemedicine among drug stores, clinics, and hospitals. It can also be used to provide intranet in hospitals age (Fong 2011). WBAN This is a body-integrative network of light weight, ultra-low-power monitoring device (Ngoc 2009). WBAN is used in monitoring patients under critical conditions within the hospital (Ngoc 2009). The network transmits patients’ signs to physicians through the internet. WBAN applies Zigbee or UWB standards. WBAN is used in computer assisted physical rehabilitation. Intelligent sensors worn by patients relay important signs to the personal servers that either run on PDA or a 3 G cell phone (Ngoc 2009). This information is then transferred from the personal servers to healthcare systems server like in weather forecasting, medical data base and emergency servers over the internet. Algorithm is then conducted in healthcare systems servers to diagnose a patient (Roebuck 2011). References Akyidiz, I. F., Su W., Sankarasubramaniam, Y. & Cayirci E. (2002). A Survey on Sensor Networks. Retrieved from http://dcslab.snu.ac.kr/courses/dip2010f/presentation_2010f/09.pdf Fong, B., Fong, A. C. M., & Li, C. K. (2011). Telemedicine technologies: Information technologies in medicine and telehealth. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Niyato, D., Hossain, E., & Diamond, J. (2007). IEEE 802.16/WiMAX-based broadband wireless access and its application for telemedicine/e-health services. Wireless Communications, IEEE, 14(1), 72-83. Ngoc, T. V. (2009). Medical Applications of Wireless Networks. Retrieved from http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cse574-08/ftp/medical/ Gungor, V. C., Lu, B., & Hancke, G. P. (2010). Opportunities and challenges of wireless sensor networks in a smart grid. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 57(10), 3557-3564. Issakar, K. A. (2014). Semantic sensor network. Retrieved from https://theseus32-kk.lib.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/72065/Karim_Abdul_Issakar.pdf?sequence=1 Ilyas, M., & Mahgoub, I. (2006). Smart Dust: Sensor network applications, architecture, and design. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. Roebuck, K. (2011). Location Aware Applications: High-impact Emerging Technology-What You Need to Know: Definitions, Adoptions, Impact, Benefits, Maturity, Vendors. Emereo Publishing. Read More