Keynote : Wireless sensor networks powered by ambient energy harvesting

Energy consumption is a perennial issue in the design of wireless sensor networks which typically rely on portable sources like batteries for power. Recent advances in ambient energy harvesting technology have made it a viable alternative source of energy for powering wireless sensor networks. WSNs powered by ambient energy harvesting (WSN-HEAP) are potentially more useful and economical in the long term than traditional battery-powered WSNs as they can operate for very long periods of time, while delineating the need for human involvement. In this talk, we first provide an overview of existing WSN and ambient energy harvesting technology for powering WSNs. We then discuss key challenges in designing networking protocols for WSN-HEAP and present some preliminary results from our ongoing work.