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Modular Plug-and-Play Power Resources for Energy-Aware Wireless Sensor Nodes

Modular Plug-and-Play Power Resources for Energy-Aware Wireless Sensor Nodes
Modular Plug-and-Play Power Resources for Energy-Aware Wireless Sensor Nodes
Wireless sensors are normally powered by non-rechargeable batteries, but these must be replaced when depleted. Recent developments in energy harvesting technology allow sensors to be powered by environmental energy where it is present, but the wide range of situations where sensors are deployed means that it is desirable for the energy components of a sensor node (i.e. batteries, supercapacitors, and power generation devices) to be selected and configured at the time of node deployment. Previous energy harvesting-powered systems have been designed for specific energy hardware and been difficult to adapt for different resources. Energy-awareness is useful for state-of-the-art network algorithms, but present systems do not provide a standardized or straightforward way for nodes to monitor and manage their energy hardware. The developments reported in this paper deliver a reconfigurable energy subsystem for wireless autonomous sensors. The new system permits energy modules to be selected and fitted to the sensor node in-situ, in a plug-and-play manner, without the need for reprogramming or the modification of hardware. The node can monitor and intelligently manage its energy resources and assess its overall energy status by analyzing its level of stored energy and rate of power generation. These activities are facilitated by a proposed common hardware interface (which allows multiple energy modules to be connected) and an electronic datasheet structure for the energy modules. The system has been verified through the development and testing of a prototype wireless sensor node which operates from a mix of energy sources.
energy harvesting, energy management, wireless sensor networks
978-1-4244-2908-0
Weddell, Alex S.
7fb964f4-6ca7-401d-8f57-f4355055eb8b
Grabham, Neil J.
00695728-6280-4d06-a943-29142f2547c9
Harris, Nick R.
237cfdbd-86e4-4025-869c-c85136f14dfd
White, Neil M.
c7be4c26-e419-4e5c-9420-09fc02e2ac9c
Weddell, Alex S.
7fb964f4-6ca7-401d-8f57-f4355055eb8b
Grabham, Neil J.
00695728-6280-4d06-a943-29142f2547c9
Harris, Nick R.
237cfdbd-86e4-4025-869c-c85136f14dfd
White, Neil M.
c7be4c26-e419-4e5c-9420-09fc02e2ac9c

Weddell, Alex S., Grabham, Neil J., Harris, Nick R. and White, Neil M. (2009) Modular Plug-and-Play Power Resources for Energy-Aware Wireless Sensor Nodes. Sixth Annual IEEE Communications Society Conference on Sensor, Mesh and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks - SECON 2009, Rome, Italy. 22 - 26 Jun 2009. (Submitted)

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Other)

Abstract

Wireless sensors are normally powered by non-rechargeable batteries, but these must be replaced when depleted. Recent developments in energy harvesting technology allow sensors to be powered by environmental energy where it is present, but the wide range of situations where sensors are deployed means that it is desirable for the energy components of a sensor node (i.e. batteries, supercapacitors, and power generation devices) to be selected and configured at the time of node deployment. Previous energy harvesting-powered systems have been designed for specific energy hardware and been difficult to adapt for different resources. Energy-awareness is useful for state-of-the-art network algorithms, but present systems do not provide a standardized or straightforward way for nodes to monitor and manage their energy hardware. The developments reported in this paper deliver a reconfigurable energy subsystem for wireless autonomous sensors. The new system permits energy modules to be selected and fitted to the sensor node in-situ, in a plug-and-play manner, without the need for reprogramming or the modification of hardware. The node can monitor and intelligently manage its energy resources and assess its overall energy status by analyzing its level of stored energy and rate of power generation. These activities are facilitated by a proposed common hardware interface (which allows multiple energy modules to be connected) and an electronic datasheet structure for the energy modules. The system has been verified through the development and testing of a prototype wireless sensor node which operates from a mix of energy sources.

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More information

Submitted date: 22 June 2009
Additional Information: Event Dates: 22-26 June 2009
Venue - Dates: Sixth Annual IEEE Communications Society Conference on Sensor, Mesh and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks - SECON 2009, Rome, Italy, 2009-06-22 - 2009-06-26
Keywords: energy harvesting, energy management, wireless sensor networks
Organisations: EEE

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 267325
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/267325
ISBN: 978-1-4244-2908-0
PURE UUID: 611c83e3-b01a-46f9-871e-d09854ce05c4
ORCID for Neil J. Grabham: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6385-0331
ORCID for Nick R. Harris: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4122-2219
ORCID for Neil M. White: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1532-6452

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Date deposited: 04 May 2009 10:39
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:46

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Contributors

Author: Alex S. Weddell
Author: Neil J. Grabham ORCID iD
Author: Nick R. Harris ORCID iD
Author: Neil M. White ORCID iD

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