SBIR Phase I: Developing an Ultra Energy Efficient Sensor Node Using RFID Technology

这项小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段研究项目建议开发一种使用RFID技术的超节能无线传感器节点。通过提供超高能效，从而延长网络寿命，建议的解决方案可以显著降低因更换/充电电池而导致的经常性维护成本，以及部署寿命较长的网络的正常运行中断。拟议任务的结果是一个无线传感器平台的原型，它将提供超能源效率，与现有解决方案相比至少提高5-10倍。其方法是将无线传感器平台与射频识别(RFID)技术独一无二地结合起来。与传统设计不同的是，传感器节点的同步周期性睡眠/唤醒是节能的主要策略，我们采用了一种创新的异步通信体系结构，允许传感器节点独立传输，而不需要任何同步。该方法从根本上不同于现有的设计范例；创新的异步通信体系结构允许传感器节点在其主平台休眠时直接将数据写入驻留在接收节点上的特殊的反应模块。通过这种方式，每个单独的传感器都可以调度自己的传输，而不需要任何网络范围或本地同步，从而在网络中产生存储转发的异步通信模式。由于传感器节点的低占空比，提出的异步体系结构将充分利用时间作为资源的一个维度，从而将网络从冲突和空闲监听中解放出来。其结果是设计在能源效率方面实现了数量级的提高。延长无线传感器网络的寿命将具有巨大的商业潜力，可以节省因更换/充电电池而产生的经常性维护成本，以及对市场爆炸性增长的技术造成的正常运营中断。此外，该技术还可以实现在现有设计下无法实现的大量应用，这些应用需要超大规模的传感器网络和超高能效才能长期运行。这些措施包括栖息地、海洋和行星监测以及基础设施监测。此外，这个综合性和尖端的项目需要一种系统和协同的方法，将无线网络、嵌入式系统设计和低功率无线电结合在一起，并应通过专注于共同和具有挑战性的目标来促进各领域知识的融合。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research project proposes to develop an ultra-energy efficient wireless sensor node using RFID technology. By providing ultra energy efficiency and hence extended network life time, the proposed solution can significantly reduce recurring maintenance cost due to replacing/recharging batteries and interruption of normal operation for networks with long deployment lifetime. The outcome of the proposed tasks is a prototype of a wireless sensor platform that will provide ultra-energy efficiency, at least 5-10 times improvement as compared to existing solutions. The approach is to uniquely combine wireless sensor platform with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. In contrast to conventional designs where synchronized, periodic sleep/wakeup of sensor nodes are used as the dominant strategy for energy conservation, we employ an innovative asynchronous communication architecture, where sensor nodes are allowed to independently transmit without requiring any synchronization. The approach is fundamentally different from existing design paradigms; the innovative asynchronous communication architecture allows a sensor node to directly write data into a special, reactive module residing on the receiving node while its main platform is asleep. In this way, each individual sensor can schedule its own transmission without demanding any network-wide or local synchronization, thus resulting in a store-and-forward, asynchronous communication pattern in the network. Owing to the low duty cycle of a sensor node, the proposed asynchronous architecture will liberate the network from collisions and idle listening by fully exploiting time as one dimension of resource. The result is a design achieving order of magnitude improvement in energy efficiency. The extension of a wireless sensor network's life time will have significant commercial potential in saving recurring maintenance cost due to replacing/recharging batteries and disruption of normal operation for a technology with exploding market. Moreover, the technology can enable a plethora of applications, infeasible under existing designs, which demand extremely large scale sensor networks and ultra energy efficiency forlong term operation. These include habitat, oceanic and planetary monitoring and surveillance of infrastructures. Furthermore, this integrative, and cutting edge project demands a systematic and synergistic approach that combines wireless networking, embedded system design, and lower power radio, and should also promote the fusion of knowledge in various domains by focusing on a mutual and challenging objective.