A Study of Distributed Smart Sensor Networks 1 2

The ability to monitor or detect distributed physical stimuli as a means of alarming someone of danger or studying the behavior of nature has been of signiicant interest to the security community as well as the scientiic community. The advances in measurement devices have reduced cost to the point where it is now viable to develop large-scale distributed sensing systems. Similar to the problems we face with the present Internet, these potential large-scale sensing systems involve vast amounts of localized information. However, the advances in processor technology allow for relatively low-cost, low-power, compact distributed processing integrated within these sensor devices, commonly referred to as smart sensors. Intelligent or smart sensors capable of parsing and ltering only the necessary or desired information, allow for eecient use of memory, precious wireless bandwidth, and battery power needed for the transfer of sensor information. This paper describes a simple oo-the-shelf implementation of smart sensors, capable of self-routing, and processing temperature information. Strong assumptions are made as to the topology of the network. Speciically, we develop a distributed smart sensor network where sensors, distributed throughout the network, are assumed to collect and process information independent of the network state and then forward information packets in a directed manner towards a Home base. Analysis is performed to obtain average routing times and average battery life expectancy of the modules.