Universal embedded hardware-software platform for a wide range of applications based on wireless sensor networks

Kurzfassung

A russian company from Moscow, specialized in wireless data transmission and hardware-software complexes for automation and control, developed a universal embedded hardware-software platform to be used for creating automation systems, security and fire-alarm monitoring, localization, telemedicine, logistics and other monitoring systems. The company seeks partners for technical cooperation in order to finalise the products and to participate in FP7 program.

Details

A wireless sensor network (WSN) is a distributed self-organizing network consisting of miniature electronic devices that exchange data through wireless channels. These devices (nodes) do not require special installation and/or maintenance. The key feature of a sensor network is a possibility of retranslating messages from one node to another, which allows covering large territories without using high-power transmitters. A common WSN node uses the ZigBee standard for wireless data transmission. The ZigBee is an international open standard developed by the ZigBee Alliance. This standard allows using wireless connection with low-power consumption for different applications, mainly monitoring and management. Zigbee supports different network topologies, it has special network functions for self-organization, as well as several methods to ensure secure transmission. Adaptation of Zigbee products (components, modules, development kits) to customer's needs usually requires:
- development time - about 1 year
- at least 3 qualified specialists.
- costs - about $1 million.
In case of small-scale production, using Zigbee solutions becomes ineffective.
The proposed platform is ready for autonomous use, it can be integrated into existent systems, it works with all popular COTS sensors. It can be quickly adapted to different requirements and significantly reduce costs and development time.
The product structure is the following:
- tiny packaged devices, ready for autonomous use and integration into existing systems;
- program stack for network organization and maintenance;
- applications for monitoring systems, climate-control, environmental control, tracking systems etc.
- components for interconnection with Ethernet and GSM.
The proposed platform is already being used in monitoring, climate-control, perimeter intrusion detection and bodynet systems.

Innovative Aspects:
The novelty of proposed solution consists in finding a single approach to different peculiar tasks. A universal hardware-software platform is proposed as the first step to a quicker development of completed WSN-based solutions.
The main advantages of the developed WSN platform:
- autonomous use (only power supply and external sensors are required);
- compatibility with all popular COTS sensors;
- compact size;
- easy structural and functional adaptation to customer's requirements;
- allows to minimize costs and time for development of new products.
Only two types of modules are required (dimensions: 100*60*40mm or 50*30*10mm) to build a complete Zigbee network (coordinator, router, end device) for data acquisition.