Sensors 2011, 11(9), 9009-9032; doi:10.3390/s110909009
A Programmable Plug & Play Sensor Interface for WSN Applications
Group of Electronic Design, Aragon Institute for Engineering Research, I3A, Facultad de Ciencias, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 4 August 2011 / Revised: 6 September 2011 / Accepted: 15 September 2011 / Published: 21 September 2011
(This article belongs to the Section Physical Sensors)
Abstract
Cost reduction in wireless sensor networks (WSN) becomes a priority when extending their application to fields where a great number of sensors is needed, such as habitat monitoring, precision agriculture or diffuse greenhouse emission measurement. In these cases, the use of smart sensors is expensive, consequently requiring the use of low-cost sensors. The solution to convert such generic low-cost sensors into intelligent ones leads to the implementation of a versatile system with enhanced processing and storage capabilities to attain a plug and play electronic interface able to adapt to all the sensors used. This paper focuses on this issue and presents a low-voltage plug & play reprogrammable interface capable of adapting to different sensor types and achieving an optimum reading performance for every sensor. The proposed interface, which includes both electronic and software elements so that it can be easily integrated in WSN nodes, is described and experimental test results to validate its performance are given. View Full-TextKeywords:
embedded microcontroller; plug & play; sensor interface; smart sensors; TEDS; wireless sensor networks
▼
Figures
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Vera, S.D.; Bayo, A.; Medrano, N.; Calvo, B.; Celma, S. A Programmable Plug & Play Sensor Interface for WSN Applications. Sensors 2011, 11, 9009-9032.