Development of field programmable modular wireless sensor network nodes for ambient systems

The goal of this work is to fabricate robust, miniature, wireless sensor modules. These provide an enabling technology platform to conduct research in creating ambient systems, through implementing wireless sensor network applications. The approach taken is to partition the wireless sensor module into a series of layers with area 25 mm×25 mm. This modular approach has resulted in the specification of a series of layers, including a field programmable gate array layer for digital signal processing type operations, forming the initial elements of the 25 mm sensor node toolkit that can be programmed for use with different sensors depending on application. This paper highlights the development of the sensor, processing, communication and power layers, and the connection approach used to form a robust modular system. Comparisons are made with other wireless sensor nodes and application examples are given.