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PRACTICAL: 2
Aim: Study about Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) in IOT application.
Wireless Sensor Network(WSN)
Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is an infrastructure-less wireless network that is deployed in
a large number of wireless sensors in an ad-hoc manner that is used to monitor the system,
physical or environmental conditions.
Sensor nodes are used in WSN with the onboard processor that manages and monitors the
environment in a particular area. They are connected to the Base Station which acts as a
processing unit in the WSN System.
Base Station in a WSN System is connected through the Internet to share data.
WSN can be used for processing, analysis, storage, and mining of the data.
WSN History & Evolution
The concept of WSNs originated from military applications in the late 20th century,
primarily for surveillance purposes. Over the years, the evolution of WSN technology
has seen tremendous advancements, transitioning from simple monitoring systems to
complex networks capable of intelligent decision-making.
Early Wireless Sensor Networks in homes were like basic smoke alarms, beeping only
when there was smoke. Now, WSNs in smart homes can detect smoke or fire and
pinpoint its exact location, send instant alerts to your phone, and automatically alert
emergency services.
Components of Wireless Sensor Networks
• Sensors: These components are responsible for data acquisition, i.e., they collect
environmental data (variables) and convert it into electrical signals through a process
known as transduction. In lay terms, sensors are tiny electric noses, ears, and fingers that
'feel' the environment and tell a computer what it 'senses' in a language it understands.
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• Radio Nodes: These components are equipped with a microcontroller for data
processing, a transceiver for wireless communication, external memory for data storage,
and a power source to remain operational. They receive the sensor's electrical signals and
send this data to the WLAN access point.
• WLAN Access Points: This component receives data wirelessly from the radio nodes,
often via the Internet. Once received, it forwards it to the evaluation software.
• Evaluation Software: This software analyzes the data received from the WLAN Access
Point and turns raw data into actionable information for the user.
WSN Deployment Strategies
There are two deployment strategies mentioned for Wireless Sensor Networks:
Non-Deterministic Deployment
Definition: Non-Deterministic Deployment in Wireless Sensor Networks involves
distributing sensors in inaccessible or challenging terrains where precise placement is not
feasible.
This approach is characterized by random scattering of sensors over a targeted area, often
deployed from an airborne vehicle or other means, without following a specific pattern. It
is ideal for environments where manual placement is impractical due to terrain or scale.
Example: Consider researchers studying wildlife in a dense tropical rainforest. The
challenging terrain makes manual sensor placement impractical. They employ a drone to
scatter sensors across the forest canopy to overcome this randomly. These sensors are
used to monitor environmental conditions and track animal movements. The random
scattering method ensures comprehensive area coverage, compensating for the lack of
precise sensor placement.
Deterministic Deployment
Definition: Deterministic Deployment in Wireless Sensor Networks involves
strategically and precisely placing sensors in controlled environments.
This strategy is applied in settings where the conditions allow for careful planning and
execution of sensor placement, such as in industrial, urban, or indoor environments. The
careful positioning of each sensor is crucial for the specific data collection requirements
of the application.
Example: In a smart manufacturing facility, sensors are meticulously placed to monitor
machinery performance, environmental conditions, and workflow processes. Each sensor
is strategically located to maximize data collection efficiency for predictive maintenance
and energy management applications. This deliberate placement facilitates detailed,
targeted data collection, thereby enhancing the operational efficiency and effectiveness of
the facility.
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Applications of WSN:
Internet of Things (IoT)
Surveillance and Monitoring for security, threat detection
Environmental temperature, humidity, and air pressure
Noise Level of the surrounding
Medical applications like patient monitoring
Agriculture
Landslide Detection
Challenges of WSN:
Quality of Service
Security Issue
Energy Efficiency
Network Throughput
Performance
Ability to cope with node failure
Cross layer optimisation
Scalability to large scale of deployment
A modern Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) faces several challenges, including:
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Limited power and energy: WSNs are typically composed of battery-powered sensors that have
limited energy resources. This makes it challenging to ensure that the network can function for
long periods of time without the need for frequent battery replacements.
Limited processing and storage capabilities: Sensor nodes in a WSN are typically small
and have limited processing and storage capabilities. This makes it difficult to perform complex
tasks or store large amounts of data.
Heterogeneity: WSNs often consist of a variety of different sensor types and nodes with different
capabilities. This makes it challenging to ensure that the network can function effectively and
efficiently.
Security: WSNs are vulnerable to various types of attacks, such as eavesdropping, jamming, and
spoofing. Ensuring the security of the network and the data it collects is a major challenge.
Scalability: WSNs often need to be able to support a large number of sensor nodes and
handle large amounts of data. Ensuring that the network can scale to meet these demands is a
significant challenge.
Interference: WSNs are often deployed in environments where there is a lot of interference from
other wireless devices. This can make it difficult to ensure reliable communication between
sensor nodes.
Reliability: WSNs are often used in critical applications, such as monitoring the environment or
controlling industrial processes. Ensuring that the network is reliable and able to function
correctly in all conditions is a major challenge.
Components of WSN:
Sensors:
Sensors in WSN are used to capture the environmental variables and which is used for data
acquisition. Sensor signals are converted into electrical signals.
Radio Nodes:
It is used to receive the data produced by the Sensors and sends it to the WLAN access point.
It consists of a microcontroller, transceiver, external memory, and power source.
WLAN Access Point:
It receives the data which is sent by the Radio nodes wirelessly, generally through the
internet.
Evaluation Software:
The data received by the WLAN Access Point is processed by a software called as Evaluation
Software for presenting the report to the users for further processing of the data which can be
used for processing, analysis, storage, and mining of the data.
Advantages of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN):
Low cost: WSNs consist of small, low-cost sensors that are easy to deploy, making them a cost-
effective solution for many applications.
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Wireless communication: WSNs eliminate the need for wired connections, which can be costly
and difficult to install. Wireless communication also enables flexible deployment and
reconfiguration of the network.
Energy efficiency: WSNs use low-power devices and protocols to conserve energy, enabling
long-term operation without the need for frequent battery replacements.
Scalability: WSNs can be scaled up or down easily by adding or removing sensors, making them
suitable for a range of applications and environments.
Real-time monitoring: WSNs enable real-time monitoring of physical phenomena in the
environment, providing timely information for decision making and control.
Disadvantages of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN):
Limited range: The range of wireless communication in WSNs is limited, which can be a
challenge for large-scale deployments or in environments with obstacles that obstruct radio
signals.
Limited processing power: WSNs use low-power devices, which may have limited processing
power and memory, making it difficult to perform complex computations or support advanced
applications.
Data security: WSNs are vulnerable to security threats, such as eavesdropping, tampering,
and denial of service attacks, which can compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and
availability of data.
Interference: Wireless communication in WSNs can be susceptible to interference from
other wireless devices or radio signals, which can degrade the quality of data transmission.
Deployment challenges: Deploying WSNs can be challenging due to the need for proper sensor
placement, power management, and network configuration, which can require significant time
and resources.
while WSNs offer many benefits, they also have limitations and challenges that must be
considered when deploying and using them in real-world applications.
Types of Wireless Sensor Networks
There are five types of Wireless Sensor Networks depending on the environment. Different
Types of WSNs are:
1. Terrestrial Wireless Sensor Networks: Terrestrial WSNs are used for communicating
base stations efficiently, and comprise thousands of wireless sensor nodes deployed either
in an unstructured (ad hoc) or structured (Pre-planned) manner.
In an unstructured mode (ad hoc), the sensor nodes are randomly distributed within the target
area that’s dropped from a set plane.
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In WSNs, the battery power is limited, however, the battery is provided with solar cells as a
secondary power source. The conservation of energy of the WSNs gets by using low duty
cycle operations, optimal routing, minimizing delays, and so on.
2. Underground Wireless Sensor Networks: In terms of deployment, maintenance,
equipment cost considerations, and careful planning, underground wireless sensor
networks are more expensive than terrestrial WSNs.
The Underground Wireless sensor networks UWSNs comprises several sensory nodes that
are hidden in the ground to observe underground conditions.
Additional sink nodes are located above the bottom to transfer information from the sensor
nodes to the base station, These underground WSNs deployed into the ground are difficult
to recharge.
The sensor battery nodes equipped with limited battery power are also difficult to recharge.
Additionally, the underground environment makes wireless communication a challenge
because of the high attenuation and signal loss level.
3. Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks: About more than 70% of the earth’s planet is
occupied with water. These networks contain several sensor nodes and vehicles deployed
underwater. Autonomous underwater devices and vehicles are used to collect data from
these sensor nodes.
A challenge of underwater communication may be a long propagation delay, and bandwidth
and sensor failures. Underwater, WSNs are equipped with a limited battery that can’t be
recharged or replaced.
The difficulty of energy conservation for underwater WSNs involves the development of
underwater communication and networking techniques.
4. Multimedia Wireless Sensor Networks: Multimedia wireless sensor networks are
proposed to enable tracking and monitoring of events in the sort of multimedia, like video,
imaging, and audio.
These networks contain low-cost sensor nodes equipped with cameras and microphones.
These sensory nodes of Multimedia WSNs are interconnected together over a wireless
connection for data retrieval, data compression, and correlation.
The challenges with the Multimedia WSNs include high bandwidth requirements, high
energy consumption, processing, and compressing techniques. Additionally, multimedia
contents need high bandwidth for the content to be delivered properly and easily.
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5. Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks MWSNs: Mobile WSNs networks comprise a
group of sensor nodes that can be moved on their own and can be interacted with the
physical environment. The mobile nodes can also compute sense and communicate
respectively.
Mobile wireless sensor networks are way more versatile than static sensor networks. The
benefits of Mobile WSNs over Static WSNs include better and improved coverage, superior
channel capacity, better energy efficiency, and so on.
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