5B: emerging technologies - reliable and fault-tolerant wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks create invisible interconnections with the physical world for the measurement, monitoring, and management of data from multiple sensors and probes with little constraint on location. These networks provide distributed processing, data storage, wireless communication, and dedicated application software with high reliability, inherent redundancy, failure-tolerant security and easily encrypted privacy. They have enormous potential to transform our society and are subjects of intense current research and application development. Three enabling hardware technologies which constitute a network node are microprocessors, MEMS sensors, and low-power radios. Sensor networks represent the paradigm shift in computing where they anticipate our needs and sometimes act on our behalf. The objective of this presentation is to discuss the reliable and fault-tolerant wireless sensor networks, focusing on environmental, behavioral, and biomedical areas. Special focus will be on wearable monitors and body wireless sensor network. An example of physiological monitoring by body area network will be discussed.