Sensor Networks NETB405

Radio Communication

By Liyana Mihaleva F95093

Currently, the effective design of a Wireless Sensor Network has risen to the top of
the research priority list. A Wireless Sensor Network is a system that responds to and
recognizes input from physical or environmental factors such as heat, pressure, light,
and so on.

 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)

WSNs are self-configured and infrastructure-less wireless networks that

monitor physical or environmental conditions such as temperature, pressure, motion,
sound, vibration, or pollutants and directly transmit their data or information
through the network to a sink, also known as the main location where the
information is frequently observed and analyzed.

A base station or sink appears to be a point of contact between users and the
network. By inserting some requests and retrieving results from the sink, it can
convert back some essential information from the network. A wireless sensor
network often has thousands of sensor nodes.

Radio signals allow the sensory nodes to communicate with one another. The
wireless sensor nodes are outfitted with sensing and radio transceivers, as well as
computation and power components.[1]

 Radio Standards

The operating frequency is the most important decision to make in

the design and development of a wireless sensor system. It must adhere to
regulatory rules as well as wireless standards. Today, wireless sensor systems
use frequencies such as 315 MHz, 433 MHz, 868 MHz (Europe), 915 MHz
(North America), and the 2.45 GHz Industrial-Scientific-Medical (ISM) band.
Because of the variety of commercially accessible RF equipment at that
frequency, the 2.45-GHz spectrum gives implementation freedom. The
primary risk with using this spectrum is the likelihood of inter-system
interference. Interference can be caused by a variety of applications
operating in the band, including WLAN 802.11b/g, WiMAX, and Bluetooth.[8]

 Antenna Types

- The half-wave dipole antenna is the most basic resonance

structure in antenna technology. It is the foundation of practically all antenna
shapes and is occasionally used as a reference antenna alongside the
isotropic omnidirectional radiator.

Most radiators release more radiation in one direction than the other.
This type of radiator is known as anisotropic.

A half-wave antenna (also known as a dipole, Hertz, or doublet) is

made up of two pieces of wire rod or tubing that are each 1/4 wavelength
long at a specific frequency. It is the fundamental unit from which many
complicated antennas are built. The current in a dipole is greatest in the
middle and least in the ends. The voltage is lowest in the center and highest
at the ends.[9]

- The quarter wave vertical antenna consists of a quarter wavelength

vertical element.

This is a monopole antenna, as opposed to a dipole. It has a single

radiating element and then relies on the ground or ground-imitating system
for the rest of the antenna.

In reality, the quarter wave dipole can be thought of as a dipole in

which one half is a radiating monopole and the other half is a reflection
observed in the ground.[10]

Image 1: Environmental monitoring wireless sensor network[2]

 Types of Wireless Sensor Networks

 Terrestrial Wireless Sensor Networks

Terrestrial WSNs are capable of efficiently communicating base stations

and are made up of hundreds to thousands of wireless sensor nodes that are
placed either unstructured (ad hoc) or structured (pre-planned).

Image 2: Terrestrial WSNs

The battery power of this WSN is restricted; nevertheless, the battery

is equipped with solar cells as a backup power source. These WSNs save
energy by performing low-duty cycle operations, eliminating delays, and
optimizing routing, among other things.

 Underground Wireless Sensor Networks

In terms of deployment, maintenance, and equipment costs, as well

as meticulous planning, underground wireless sensor networks are more
expensive than terrestrial WSNs. WSN networks are made up of numerous
sensor nodes concealed in the earth that monitor subsurface conditions.
Additional sink nodes are positioned above ground to relay information from
the sensor nodes to the base station. Sensor battery nodes with low battery
power are difficult to recharge. Furthermore, the underground environment
makes wireless communication difficult due to significant levels of
attenuation and signal loss.

Image 3: Underground WSNs[4]

 Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

These networks are made up of multiple sensor nodes and vehicles

that are deployed underwater. Data from these sensor nodes is collected
using autonomous underwater vehicles. Underwater communication is
complicated by significant propagation delays, as well as bandwidth and
sensor issues. WSNs are fitted with a restricted battery that cannot be refilled
or replaced underwater.

Image 4: Underwater WSNs[5]

 Multimedia Wireless Sensor Networks

Multimedia wireless sensor networks have been proposed to track

and monitor events in the form of imaging, video, and sound. These networks
are made up of low-cost sensor nodes that are equipped with microphones
and cameras. These nodes communicate with one another via a wireless link
for data compression, retrieval, and correlation. The multimedia WSN has
issues such as high energy consumption, high bandwidth needs, data
processing, and compression approaches. Also, sufficient bandwidth is
required for multimedia content to be transmitted efficiently and easily.
 Image 5: Multimedia WSNs

 Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks MWSNs

These networks are made up of sensor nodes that may move

independently and interact with the physical environment. The mobile
nodes have the ability to compute, sense, and communicate.

Mobile wireless sensor networks are far more adaptable than static
sensor networks. Better and enhanced coverage, higher energy economy,
superior channel capacity, and other benefits distinguish MWSN from static
wireless sensor networks.

Image 6: MWSNs[6]
 Issues in Wireless Sensor Networks

Design issues, topology issues, and other have all been occurring in wireless
sensor networks WSNs.

Some complications in design include scalability, coverage problems, low

latency, transmission media etc.

Issues in the topology of WSNs include coverage topology, sensor topology,

geographic routing and so on.

Other types of issues that affect the design and performance of the WSNs are
deployment, calibration, synchronization, data dissemination and data aggregation,
localization etc.[3]

 The Exposed Terminal Problem

The exposed terminal problem is a transmission issue that occurs

when a transmitting station is unable to broadcast frames owing to
interference from another transmitting station. This is common in
decentralized systems when no entity is in charge of managing transmissions.
This happens when a station can be seen by a wireless access point (AP) but
not by other stations that communicate with the AP.[11]

 The Hidden Terminal Problem

The hidden terminal problem is a transmission difficulty that occurs

when two or more stations that are out of range of each other transmit to
the same recipient at the same time.[12]

 Wireless Sensor Networks Applications

Various applications of WSNs are currently either already in mature use or

still in the infant stages of development.

 Military

To detect the presence of these compounds, Chemical, Biological,

Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) and Toxic Industrial Material (TIM)
sensors may be utilized. WSNs may employ infrared, photoelectric, laser,
acoustic, and vibration sensors to detect intrusion. Similarly, nodes in WSNs use
radio detection and ranging (RADAR), light detection and ranging (LIDAR), laser
detection and ranging (LADAR), and ultrasonic sensors to determine the distance
from objects of interest. Similarly, LADAR and infrared sensors are utilized for
imaging.
 Image 7: WSNs in Military Applications

 Urban

The most common urban WSN applications are related to smart houses,
smart cities, and structural health monitoring.

In cities, they can be used to monitor traffic, detect which parking

spots are available and which are occupied, control street lighting lamps etc.

In homes WSNs can be used to detect gas leakage, measure the temperature
and humidity levels.

The goal of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) in buildings and other

forms of civil engineering substructures is to monitor their integrity and
detect the presence and extent of deterioration in their materials or/and
structure. The use of wireless sensors simplifies the completion of such
activities on a regular basis as well as after critical events such as earthquakes.

 Industrial

There are many applications of WSNs in industrial spheres such as

logistics, robotics and machinery health monitoring.

In logistics WNSs can be used to monitor transportation conditions,

like temperature and humidity, within a cargo container in order to
ensure high-quality deliveries.

There are numerous applications that integrate WSNs with robots

nowadays. Robots can work together to solve some of WSN's major
difficulties, such as sensor node mobility, node redeployment, traveling
salesman, and so on.
 The goal of machinery health monitoring is to analyze the
performance of various types of technical equipment in order to detect or
predict the onset of problems that are obstructive, if not catastrophic, to
their functioning.

 Health

WSNs in the health domain use advanced medical sensors to monitor

patients in a healthcare institution, such as a hospital or at home, as well as to
enable real-time monitoring of patients' vitals via wearable devices.

Image 8: WSNs for Healthcare Applications

 Environmental

WSNs can improve environmental applications that require continuous

monitoring of ambient conditions in hostile and isolated places. For example
they can be used to evaluate the quality of fresh drinkable water. WSNs can
also be used to check the air quality in occupied regions in order to prevent
contamination which can risk the health of people. Another application is
emergency alerting. In order to lower damage and sometimes even prevent a
disaster, WSNs can monitor natural disasters such as seismic and volcanic
activities.

 Flora and Fauna

WSNs can be used in inside or outside greenhouses to monitor

environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, light intensity, air
pressure, rainfall level, pH and electrical conductivity. [7]
References:
[1]
https://www.tescaglobal.com/blog/what-is-wireless-sensor-network-and-types-
of-wsn/
[2]
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Environmental-monitoring-wireless-sensor-
network-98_fig2_287219059
[3]
https://www.elprocus.com/introduction-to-wireless-sensor-networks-types-and-
applications/
[4]
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1570870506000230
[5]
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0197087
[6]
http://proyecto-perimetersecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/AHSWN-
2990RY_final.pdf
[7]
https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/17294#:~:text=Wireless%20sensor%20networks
%20can%20be,of%20the%20indoor%20air%20quality.
[8]
https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/systems/article/21846588/building-
wireless-sensor-networks
[9]
https://www.radartutorial.eu/06.antennas/Half-wave%20Antenna.en.html
[10]
https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/antennas-propagation/vertical-
antennas/quarter-wave-vertical.php
[11]
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/the-exposed-terminal-problem
[12]
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/the-hidden-terminal-
problem#:~:text=In%20wireless%20LANs%20(%20wireless%20local,simultaneously%
20to%20a%20common%20recipient.
[13]