Application specific sensor node architecture optimization—Experiences from field deployments

The Mote architecture is the most popular platform used in wireless sensor network applications. In this architecture, microcontroller is responsible for all jobs, such as scheduling, sampling, computing, and communication. In the past one year, two practical applications: bridge structural health monitoring system and rare animal monitoring system are developed and deployed in Wuxi and Beijing, China. It is found that Mote architecture faces many problems in these applications. First, sampling, computing, and communication conflicts with each other if they are not carefully scheduled; second, some jobs are very difficult even impossible to be implemented in the microcontroller; third, low power, one of the most fundamental design principles in wireless sensor networks, is sometimes violated with all jobs implemented in the microcontroller. Software optimization is attempted to solve these problems. However, the effect is very limited. Application specific sensor node architecture is necessary for implementing these applications efficiently. In this paper, we propose new application specific sensor node architecture and corresponding design principles and then applied them in the field deployments. Experimental and field tests show that these architectures are more efficient than Mote architecture in these applications.