Project Preview

This project is about using IEEE 802.15.4 standard to establish a wireless sensor network. In this project title, there are two words which is important to understand their meanings, it is IEEE 802.15.4 standard and the wireless sensor network.

IEEE 802.15.4 standard is a kind of network connecting standard which is used in low-rate wireless personal area network. IEEE 802.15.4 standard restricts a low energy consumption, low transmitted rate and low cost network transmit method which can connect some devices within a family or individual.

Wireless sensor network, the elfevident, is a network built by a deal of sensors connected to each other by using the wireless method. This network mainly contains three members, sensor nodes, sink noble and Management Node. However, sensor nodes and sink noble may be more necessary which should be covered in the project. Sensor nodes are used to get information which should have memory and the ability to send information wirelessly. Sink noble should have the ability to get, store and process information.

Such network and IEEE 802.15.4 works like, when the sensor nodes get the information they send the information to the sink noble, then, sink noble should do some basic information processing and send it to the radio modem which is connected to the PC. During the transmitting process IEEE 802.15.4 standard will take care of it and unify transmission mode.

Consider a more specific state, to realize the network and the whole system we should have some sensors which can not only get the information but also send them wirelessly. A radio modem over a microcontroller should have the ability to get the information and send them to the microcontroller, this microcontroller will deal with the information and send them back to the radio modem after processing them. The radio modem should will send the information to the other radio modem which connected to some computers. The Xbee, from the professor’s link, is a kind of radio modem, which can work in pairs. This radio modem is only an end-point which means it does not have any ability to process the information. As a result, the microcontroller and PC will be the information processing center to process all the results.

Group 70

Zhiqing WU