Wireless sensor networks with energy harvesting: Modeling and simulation based on a practical architecture using real radiation levels

This paper presents a new energy-harvesting model for a network simulator that implements super-capacitor energy storage with solar energy-harvesting recharge. The model is easily extensible, and other energyharvesting systems, or different energy storages, can be further developed. Moreover, code can be conveniently reused as the implementation is entirely uncoupled from the radio and node models. Real radiation data are obtained from available online databases in order to dynamically calculate super-capacitor charge and discharge. Such novelty enables the evaluation of energy evolution on a network of sensor nodes at various physical world locations and during different seasons. The model is validated against a real and fully working prototype, and good result correlation is shown. Furthermore, various experiments using the ns-3 simulator were conducted, demonstrating the utility of the model in assisting the research and development of the deployment of everlasting wireless sensor networks.This work was supported by the CICYT (research projects CTM2011-29691-C02-01 and TIN2011-28435-C03-01) and UPV research project SP20120889.Climent, S.; Sánchez Matías, AM.; Blanc Clavero, S.; Capella Hernández, JV.; Ors Carot, R. (2013). Wireless sensor networks with energy harvesting: Modeling and simulation based on a practical architecture using real radiation levels. Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpe.3151S119Akyildiz, I. F., & Vuran, M. C. (2010). Wireless Sensor Networks. doi:10.1002/9780470515181Seah, W. K. G., Tan, Y. K., & Chan, A. T. S. (2012). Research in Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Networks and the Challenges Ahead. 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New thermoelectric components using microsystem technologies. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 13(3), 414-420. doi:10.1109/jmems.2004.828740Mateu L Codrea C Lucas N Pollak M Spies P Energy harvesting for wireless communication systems using thermogenerators Conference on Design of Circuits and Integrated Systems (DCIS) 2006AEMet Agencia Estatal de Meteorolgía 2013 http//www.aemet.esPANGAEA Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2013 http://www.pangaea.de/Zeng, K., Ren, K., Lou, W., & Moran, P. J. (2007). Energy aware efficient geographic routing in lossy wireless sensor networks with environmental energy supply. Wireless Networks, 15(1), 39-51. doi:10.1007/s11276-007-0022-0Hasenfratz, D., Meier, A., Moser, C., Chen, J.-J., & Thiele, L. (2010). Analysis, Comparison, and Optimization of Routing Protocols for Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Networks. 2010 IEEE International Conference on Sensor Networks, Ubiquitous, and Trustworthy Computing. doi:10.1109/sutc.2010.35Noh, D. K., & Hur, J. (2012). Using a dynamic backbone for efficient data delivery in solar-powered WSNs. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 35(4), 1277-1284. doi:10.1016/j.jnca.2012.01.012Lin, L., Shroff, N. B., & Srikant, R. (2007). Asymptotically Optimal Energy-Aware Routing for Multihop Wireless Networks With Renewable Energy Sources. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 15(5), 1021-1034. doi:10.1109/tnet.2007.896173Ferry, N., Ducloyer, S., Julien, N., & Jutel, D. (2011). Power/Energy Estimator for Designing WSN Nodes with Ambient Energy Harvesting Feature. EURASIP Journal on Embedded Systems, 2011(1), 242386. doi:10.1155/2011/242386Glaser, J., Weber, D., Madani, S., & Mahlknecht, S. (2008). Power Aware Simulation Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks and Nodes. EURASIP Journal on Embedded Systems, 2008(1), 369178. doi:10.1155/2008/369178De Mil, P., Jooris, B., Tytgat, L., Catteeuw, R., Moerman, I., Demeester, P., & Kamerman, A. (2010). Design and Implementation of a Generic Energy-Harvesting Framework Applied to the Evaluation of a Large-Scale Electronic Shelf-Labeling Wireless Sensor Network. EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking, 2010(1). doi:10.1155/2010/343690Castagnetti, A., Pegatoquet, A., Belleudy, C., & Auguin, M. (2012). A framework for modeling and simulating energy harvesting WSN nodes with efficient power management policies. EURASIP Journal on Embedded Systems, 2012(1). doi:10.1186/1687-3963-2012-8Alippi, C., & Galperti, C. (2008). An Adaptive System for Optimal Solar Energy Harvesting in Wireless Sensor Network Nodes. 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Proceedings of the 6th ACM workshop on Performance monitoring and measurement of heterogeneous wireless and wired networks - PM2HW2N ’11. doi:10.1145/2069087.2069091Renner C Jessen J Turau V Lifetime prediction for supercapacitor-powered wireless sensor nodes Proc. of the 8th GI/ITG KuVS Fachgesprächİ Drahtlose Sensornetze(FGSN09) 2009TI Analog, Embedded Processing, Semiconductor Company, Texas Instruments 2013 http//www.ti.comWSNVAL Wireless Sensor Networks Valencia 2013 www.wsnval.comSanchez, A., Blanc, S., Yuste, P., & Serrano, J. J. (2011). RFID Based Acoustic Wake-Up System for Underwater Sensor Networks. 2011 IEEE Eighth International Conference on Mobile Ad-Hoc and Sensor Systems. doi:10.1109/mass.2011.103Fan, K.-W., Zheng, Z., & Sinha, P. (2008). Steady and fair rate allocation for rechargeable sensors in perpetual sensor networks. 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Design and implementation of low complexity wake-up receiver for underwater acoustic sensor networks

This thesis designs a low-complexity dual Pseudorandom Noise (PN) scheme for identity (ID) detection and coarse frame synchronization. The two PN sequences for a node are identical and are separated by a specified length of gap which serves as the ID of different sensor nodes. The dual PN sequences are short in length but are capable of combating severe underwater acoustic (UWA) multipath fading channels that exhibit time varying impulse responses up to 100 taps. The receiver ID detection is implemented on a microcontroller MSP430F5529 by calculating the correlation between the two segments of the PN sequence with the specified separation gap. When the gap length is matched, the correlator outputs a peak which triggers the wake-up enable. The time index of the correlator peak is used as the coarse synchronization of the data frame. The correlator is implemented by an iterative algorithm that uses only one multiplication and two additions for each sample input regardless of the length of the PN sequence, thus achieving low computational complexity. The real-time processing requirement is also met via direct memory access (DMA) and two circular buffers to accelerate data transfer between the peripherals and the memory. The proposed dual PN detection scheme has been successfully tested by simulated fading channels and real-world measured channels. The results show that, in long multipath channels with more than 60 taps, the proposed scheme achieves high detection rate and low false alarm rate using maximal-length sequences as short as 31 bits to 127 bits, therefore it is suitable as a low-power wake-up receiver. The future research will integrate the wake-up receiver with Digital Signal Processors (DSP) for payload detection. --Abstract, page iv

An ultra-low power and flexible acoustic modem design to develop energy-efficient underwater sensor networks

This paper is focused on the description of the physical layer of a new acoustic modem called ITACA. The modem architecture includes as a major novelty an ultra-low power asynchronous wake-up system implementation for underwater acoustic transmission that is based on a low-cost off-the-shelf RFID peripheral integrated circuit. This feature enables a reduced power dissipation of 10 ¿W in stand-by mode and registers very low power values during reception and transmission. The modem also incorporates clear channel assessment (CCA) to support CSMA-based medium access control (MAC) layer protocols. The design is part of a compact platform for a long-life short/medium range underwater wireless sensor network. © 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This work has been partially funded by projects DPI2007-66796-C03-01 (Diseno, Evaluacion e Implementacion de una Red Subacuatica de Sensores-Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia), PET2008-0011 (Investigacion basica fundamental sobre tecnologias constitutivas de un sistema de red inalambrica de sensores y su aplicacion para el desarrollo de una plataforma de redes inalambricas de sensores-Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion) and CTM2011-29691-C02-01 (Sonorizacion ambiental subacuatica para la inspeccion y monitorizacion de explotaciones de acuicultura marina-Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion).Sánchez Matías, AM.; Blanc Clavero, S.; Yuste Pérez, P.; Perles Ivars, ÁF.; Serrano Martín, JJ. (2012). An ultra-low power and flexible acoustic modem design to develop energy-efficient underwater sensor networks. Sensors. 12(6):6837-6856. https://doi.org/10.3390/s120606837S6837685612

Sistema de comunicación acústica para redes de sensores inalámbricas subacuáticas en aguas someras

Las Redes de Sensores Inalámbricas Subacuáticas es una tecnología que generará un gran impacto en cantidad de áreas de trabajo como la acuicultura, la explotación de recursos lejos de la costa, la monitorización biológica, así como el control de la contaminación, de la actividad sísmica y las corrientes marinas. La implementación de las redes necesarias para este tipo de aplicaciones requiere de la instalación de un número importante de nodos, facilitando la monitorización ambiental por medio de la adquisición de datos. Por tanto, supone un reto tecnológico desarrollar módems con arquitecturas sencillas y robustas con un precio reducido, pero con alta eficiencia. Esta tesis se centra en el diseño de la capa física de un módem acústico integrable en una Red Acústica Subacuática. Como punto de partida, se define una arquitectura que incluye, como principal novedad, un sistema de activación remota asíncrono optimizado para la comunicación acústica de ultra bajo consumo energético. Esta base permite plataformas con un reducido consumo en periodos de inactividad (10 µW). Para enfrentarse con este reto y proporcionar la base para diseños futuros, se ha creado una nueva metodología de trabajo para el modelado, la simulación y la experimentación de campo: IUmote. La propuesta se basa en un módem especial, con la arquitectura presentada, y el uso de herramientas de simulación y modelos para cada uno de los elementos relacionados con la comunicación: medio acústico subacuático, transductores, circuitos electrónicos y software de procesado de la señal. La metodología presentada se basa en la re-utilización de los diferentes bloques ya que se pueden intercambiar bloques de manera inmediata y mezclar elementos de simulación y hardware real. Para extender la vida útil de los nodos subacuáticos, esta tesis también se centra en la recolección de energía en redes inalámbricas de sensores. Para permitir el diseño integral en las primeras etapas, se ha creado un nuevo modelo numérico para la simulación de redes de sensores con capacidad de recolección de energía: SIVEH. Gracias a este modelo se pueden simular de manera rápida largos periodos de tiempo -días, semanas, meses o incluso años- utilizando valores reales de energía renovable disponibles en bases de datos, tales como irradiación solar, velocidad del viento o de la corriente marina, etc. El resultado final no es únicamente la implementación concreta de un módem para Redes Acústicas Subacuáticas con un bajo consumo y unas prestaciones medias al que se le ha incorporado un módulo de recolección de energía, el módem ITACA; sino una metodología de diseño para desarrollar nuevos sistemas para Redes Acústicas Subacuáticas de manera eficiente en el futuro.Sánchez Matías, AM. (2014). Sistema de comunicación acústica para redes de sensores inalámbricas subacuáticas en aguas someras [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/35326TESI