The s-mote: a versatile heterogeneous multi-radio platform for wireless sensor networks applications

This paper presents a novel architecture and its implementation for a versatile, miniaturised mote which can communicate concurrently using a variety of combinations of ISM bands, has increased processing capability, and interoperability with mainstream GSM technology. All these features are integrated in a small form factor platform. The platform can have many configurations which could satisfy a variety of applications’ constraints. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first integrated platform of this type reported in the literature. The proposed platform opens the way for enhanced levels of Quality of Service (QoS), with respect to reliability, availability and latency, in addition to facilitating interoperability and power reduction compared to existing platforms. The small form factor also allows potential of integration with other mobile platforms including smart phones

A novel and miniaturized 433/868MHz multi-band wireless sensor platform for body sensor network applications

Body Sensor Network (BSN) technology is seeing a rapid emergence in application areas such as health, fitness and sports monitoring. Current BSN wireless sensors typically operate on a single frequency band (e.g. utilizing the IEEE 802.15.4 standard that operates at 2.45GHz) employing a single radio transceiver for wireless communications. This allows a simple wireless architecture to be realized with low cost and power consumption. However, network congestion/failure can create potential issues in terms of reliability of data transfer, quality-of-service (QOS) and data throughput for the sensor. These issues can be especially critical in healthcare monitoring applications where data availability and integrity is crucial. The addition of more than one radio has the potential to address some of the above issues. For example, multi-radio implementations can allow access to more than one network, providing increased coverage and data processing as well as improved interoperability between networks. A small number of multi-radio wireless sensor solutions exist at present but require the use of more than one radio transceiver devices to achieve multi-band operation. This paper presents the design of a novel prototype multi-radio hardware platform that uses a single radio transceiver. The proposed design allows multi-band operation in the 433/868MHz ISM bands and this, together with its low complexity and small form factor, make it suitable for a wide range of BSN applications

Wearable wireless inertial measurement for sports applications

The advent of MEMS inertial sensors has reduced the size, cost and power requirements of 6 Degrees-of-Freedom inertial measurement systems to a level where their use can be considered for wearable wireless monitoring devices. Many applications for such Wearable Wireless Inertial Measurement Units exist in the area of sports and sports science. Such a system would be critical in providing data for the analysis of the kinematic motion data of an athlete - to characterise a player’s technique or track progress and provide accurate, quantitative feedback to player and coach in near real time. A small, lightweight and low power device with the ability to sense the full range of human motion at a high sampling rate is required for such applications. It must also be robust, well sealed and comfortable to wear. Further development and miniaturisation of such devices coupled with progress in energy scavenging may lead to their use in other areas and their near ubiquity, with the potential to be embedded within clothes, buildings, materials, objects and people for health monitoring, location tracking and other purpose

Wireless biomonitor for ambient assisted living

The 1990s has been the era of the personal com puter and the mobile phone with the resulting large-scale inte gration of IT and communications providing vast processing power and accessibility to information and people. The next decade will see the emergence of intelligent sensors and their widespread deployment throughout our environment, dra matically improving the quality of our daily lives in terms of our health, security, comfort and entertainment. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) will enable point-of-care-diagnostics and provide the data input to e-health management systems that will allow significant enhancement of health care programmes. They will also support the evolution of wearable medical devices aimed at improving the fitness and general well-being of the individual. This paper discusses the development, design characterization and test of a miniaturised wireless, wearable blood pressure and ECG monitor developed at the Tyndall National Institute for medical applications. This wireless platform is incorporated with the Data Management System (DMS) architecture which aims to optimise accurate data delivery within a WSN medical environment. Good data management infrastructures within a medical environment help improve productivity levels for medical practitioners, and can improve patient diagnosis

A mobile gateway for remote interaction with wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) almost invariably support a centralised network management model. Though the data gathering function is conducted remotely, such data is usually routed via data sinks to central servers for processing, storage, visualisation and interpretation. However, the issue of supporting remote access to WSNs and individual sensor nodes whilst in their physical environment has not been viewed as a priority. It is envisaged that this situation will change as WSNs proliferate in a range of domains, and the potential for supporting innovative revenue-generating services manifest themselves. As a step towards realising such access, a mobile gateway has been designed and implemented. This gateway supports Zigbee as this is the predominant protocol supported by WSNs. Furthermore, it also supports Bluetooth, thereby facilitating interaction with conventional mobile devices. The gateway is programmable according to the needs of arbitrary services and applications.Science Foundation Irelandau,ke,vo,is,st,en,SB-08/09/201

The Tyndall mote. enabling wireless research and practical sensor application development

Wireless sensor networks are fast becoming a major technology driver, with applications seen ranging from medical and environmental monitoring to wearable sensor systems. Different application and demonstrators require specific hardware implementations. The 25mm modular stackable layer solution, developed by the AES group at the Tyndall National Institute, has proven to yield an easy solution for integration of sensors to a miniaturised communications platform enabling sensor network development and deployment. Representative wireless applications, through research collaborations throughout Europe and Ireland are presented here. A number of major applications are outlined, the development of a wearable inertial sensor system (WIMS) and a water monitoring application. Also outlined are some general WSN projects enabled by Tyndalls National Access Programme (NAP)

Enabling Intelligence on a Wireless Sensor Network Platform

Paper presented at Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 10th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems 28th of March, Salamanca, SpainConventional Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) usually adopt a centralised approach to data processing and interpretation primarily due to the limited computation and energy resources available on sensor nodes. These constraints limits the potential of intelligent techniques to data analy- sis and such activities on the centralised host. In contrast, Intelligent WSNs (iWSNs) will be significantly more powerful thus enabling the harnessing of intelligent techniques for diverse purposes. One such purpose is the practical realisation of smart environments, and facilitating mobility and interaction with the inhabitants of such environments. As a step in this direction, this paper presents the design of an iWSN sensor node platform that enables the hosting of lightweight Artificial Intelligence (AI) frameworks whilst enabling the ubiquitous energy constraints be quantified, mitigated and managed.Science Foundation Irelan

The Tyndall mote. enabling wireless research and practical sensor application development

Wireless sensor networks are fast becoming a major technology driver, with applications seen ranging from medical and environmental monitoring to wearable sensor systems. Different application and demonstrators require specific hardware implementations. The 25mm modular stackable layer solution, developed by the AES group at the Tyndall National Institute, has proven to yield an easy solution for integration of sensors to a miniaturised communications platform enabling sensor network development and deployment. Representative wireless applications, through research collaborations throughout Europe and Ireland are presented here. A number of major applications are outlined, the development of a wearable inertial sensor system (WIMS) and a water monitoring application. Also outlined are some general WSN projects enabled by Tyndalls National Access Programme (NAP)

Air quality monitoring for pervasive health

Two monitoring projects relate to this issue's theme, "Hostile Environments": "Landslide Monitoring in the Emilia Romagna Apennines" and "Air Quality Monitoring for Pervasive Health." In addition, "Task-Driven Framework for Pervasive Computing" reports on TaskOS, a project to develop task-driven recommendation systems for pervasive computing environments.Science Foundation IrelandPart of Environmental Monitoring and Task-Driven Computing Rosi, Alberto Bicocchi, Nicola Castelli, Gabriella Corsini, Alessandro Mamei, Marco Zambonelli, Franco Berti, Matteo Angove, Philip O'Flynn, Brendan Hayes, Jer Diamond, Dermot O'Grady, Michael J. O'Hare, Gregory M.P. Vo, Chuong C. Torabi, Torab Loke, Seng W. Page(s): 48 - 50 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org - AV 12/05/2011/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=558669