Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks

When choosing the technology options to develop a wireless sensor network (WSN), it is vital that their performance level can be assessed for the type of application intended. This book describes the different technology options MAC protocols, routing protocols, localisation and data fusion techniques and provides the means to numerically measure their performance, whether by simulation, mathematical models or experimental test beds. The book seeks to answer vital questions when developing a WSN: how long will my network remain alive given the amount of sensing required of it?; how long should I set the sleeping state of my motes?; how many sensors should I distribute per square meter to meet the expected requirements of the application?; what type of throughput should I expect as a function of the number of nodes deployed and the radio interface chosen (whether it be Bluetooth or Zigbee)?; how is the Packet Error Rate of my Zigbee motes affected by the selection of adjacent frequency sub bands in the ISM 2.4GHz band?; how is the localisation precision dependant on the number of nodes deployed in a corridor?

Case studies based on the authors experience of implementing WSNs describe the design methodology and the type of measurements carried out, and give samples of the performance measurements attained. The capabilities of commercially available tools for protocol design are also presented.