Performance Analysis of a Hierarchical Shipboard Wireless Sensor Network

International audienceWireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have recently gained a great attention in several applications such as environmental monitoring and target tracking. Applying this technology to shipboard monitoring systems may be a cost-effective solution to reduce the cost of wires installation and maintenance. However, wireless communications on board ships may be severely obstructed by the metallic structure of bulkheads. In this paper, we analyze the efficiency of a shipboard WSN by measurement and simulation. A measurement campaign is conducted to study the radio wave propagation and to verify the feasibility of a WSN on board a ship. Based on the measurement results, a hierarchical group-based topology for a large-scale shipboard WSN is proposed. A realistic simulation model of the ship, taking into account the environment particularities, is then performed using OPNET network simulator. Performance of the WSN architecture is evaluated using the ZigBee model. Measurement results show the feasibility of WSN technology on board ships, while simulation results show significant performance of proposed architecture in terms of end-to-end delay and packet delivery ratio

Wireless Sensor Network on Board Vessels

International audienceWireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been used recently in different applications such as environmental monitoring and target tracking. Few papers have investigated the viability of this technology on board ships. We study in this paper the possibility of replacing the wired shipboard monitoring system by a WSN. This environment has a specific metallic structure which makes the wireless communication more difficult than in other classical indoor and outdoor environments. Two types of experiments have been carried out on board a ferry-type boat during sailings and stopovers. The first experiment consists of point-to-point measurements using ZigBee-based equipments and the second one consists of deploying and testing a WSN on board the ferry. These tests have been conducted during realistic conditions on board the ferry, which give a high level of reliability to results with respect to the earlier experiments on board ships moored to the harbor. In spite of the harsh metallic structure and the dynamic environments on board the ferry, the obtained results have shown that the wireless solution may be a cost-effective alternative of the huge amount of cables used actually to connect sensors to central control units

A Realistic Experiment of a Wireless Sensor Network on Board a Vessel

International audienceWireless Sensor Networks (WSN) may be a very useful technology for monitoring systems in hostile environments. Few works have treated the use of this technology in the particular metallic shipboard environment. This paper reports on the deployment of a WSN on board a ferry-type boat during realistic conditions. The network was tested during sailings and stopovers for several days. The results of our previous papers reporting on the radio wave propagation on board ships are recalled. The network performance and a comparison of its evolution with respect to previous results are presented. In spite of the metallic structure of ferries and the dynamic movement of crew and passengers on board, the results have shown a very good network reliability and connectivity. The previous conclusions have been also confirmed by the topology evolution of the network and the analysis of RSSI levels of links between sensor nodes

A Realistic Experiment of a Wireless Sensor Network on Board a Vessel

International audienceWireless Sensor Networks (WSN) may be a very useful technology for monitoring systems in hostile environments. Few works have treated the use of this technology in the particular metallic shipboard environment. This paper reports on the deployment of a WSN on board a ferry-type boat during realistic conditions. The network was tested during sailings and stopovers for several days. The results of our previous papers reporting on the radio wave propagation on board ships are recalled. The network performance and a comparison of its evolution with respect to previous results are presented. In spite of the metallic structure of ferries and the dynamic movement of crew and passengers on board, the results have shown a very good network reliability and connectivity. The previous conclusions have been also confirmed by the topology evolution of the network and the analysis of RSSI levels of links between sensor nodes

Development and deployment of a microfluidic platform for water quality monitoring

There is an increasing demand for autonomous sensor devices which can provide reliable data on key water quality parameters at a higher temporal and geographical resolution than is achievable using current approaches to sampling and monitoring. Microfluidic technology, in combination with rapid and on-going developments in the area of wireless communications, has significant potential to address this demand due to a number of advantageous features which allow the development of compact, low-cost and low-powered analytical devices. Here we report on the development of a microfluidic platform for water quality monitoring. This system has been successfully applied to in-situ monitoring of phosphate in environmental and wastewater monitoring applications. We describe a number of the technical and practical issues encountered and addressed during these deployments and summarise the current status of the technology

Application of UWB wireless MIMO connectivity inside ships

In this paper, Ultra wideband (UWB) technology is proposed for replacing the large amounts of wiring used in ships which can cause serious problems like electrical interference, short circuit fires and similar trouble.There are numerous applications of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) like in target tracking, monitoring a large number of sensors at vital points with actuators, controllers etc.. However there are not many studies which focus on implementing this technology in Ships. Wireless communications can be difficult in ships due to many metallic structures. The proposed UWB technology is based on novel pulse shapes which are derived from mono cycle sine waves in the GHz range, which have been practically tested and found to comply with the FCC regulations, in terms of power levels and spectral mask limitations. The technique can be operated as a high bit rate fast digital personal area network (PLAN).The results obtained practically show that this wireless solution may provide cost-effective alternative to the huge amount of wiring and cables, which are used to interconnect sensors and peripheral devices to central digital control units.The proposed scheme has been analysed theoretically and implemented practically as well as by simulation. It gave sound results in terms of cost, speed, channel capacity as well as power and spectral mask compliance with FCC regulations

A realistic testing of a shipboard wireless sensor network

International audienceWireless Sensor Networks (WSN) may be a very useful technology for monitoring systems in hostile environments. Few works have treated the use of this technology in the particular metallic shipboard environment. This paper reports on the deployment of a WSN on board a ferry in realistic conditions. The network was tested during sailings and stopovers for several days. The results of our previous papers reporting on the radio wave propagation on board ships are recalled. Network performance and its topology evolution with respect to previous results are presented. In spite of the metallic structure of ferries and the dynamic movement of crew and passengers on board, the results show a significant network reliability and connectivity. The previous conclusions have been also confirmed by the topology evolution of the network and the analysis of RSSI levels of links between sensor nodes

A Review of Current Research Trends in Power-Electronic Innovations in Cyber-Physical Systems.

In this paper, a broad overview of the current research trends in power-electronic innovations in cyber-physical systems (CPSs) is presented. The recent advances in semiconductor device technologies, control architectures, and communication methodologies have enabled researchers to develop integrated smart CPSs that can cater to the emerging requirements of smart grids, renewable energy, electric vehicles, trains, ships, internet of things (IoTs), etc. The topics presented in this paper include novel power-distribution architectures, protection techniques considering large renewable integration in smart grids, wireless charging in electric vehicles, simultaneous power and information transmission, multi-hop network-based coordination, power technologies for renewable energy and smart transformer, CPS reliability, transactive smart railway grid, and real-time simulation of shipboard power systems. It is anticipated that the research trends presented in this paper will provide a timely and useful overview to the power-electronics researchers with broad applications in CPSs.post-print2.019 K

An Overview of Smart Sensor Technology

A wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of spatially distributed autonomous sensors to cooperatively monitor physical or environmental conditions, such as temperature, sound, vibration, pressure, motion or pollutants. The development of wireless sensor networks was motivated by military applications such as battlefield surveillance. They are now used in many industrial and civilian application areas, including industrial process monitoring and control, machine health monitoring, environment and habitat monitoring, healthcare applications, home automation, and traffic control