Energy efficiency analysis of a wireless sensor network based on solar energy harvesting

• Grant number: 17/07320-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2017
• End date: August 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering - Telecommunications
• Principal Investigator: Diana Pamela Moya Osorio
• Grantee: Leonardo Capucho Nogueira
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The next generation of wireless communication networks 5G is considered to be the foundation of the so-called "Globally Connected Society", where it is expected to have a drastic increase in data transmission capacity and support for ubiquitous communication. In this sense, 5G intends to serve as an infrastructure for the Internet of Things (IoT), where various devices will interact in an autonomous and intelligent way. At IoT, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) play a key role by allowing the monitoring of the environment and sending the needed information to define different actions to be taken by the various devices in the network. One of the key strengths of WSNs lies in hostile or restricted-access scenarios, where it is impossible to maintain a wired network infrastructure. Therefore, the energy consumption becomes one of the limiting factors since the use of batteries implies in a reduction of the network lifetime and a complex maintenance. Thus, the energy efficiency is crucial in the development of WSNs and IoT. An interesting strategy to overcome this problem is the concept of energy harvesting that has attracted great interest in the WSNs. This project aims to analyze the energy efficiency of a WSN through the use of the eZ430-RF2500-SEH development kit from Texas Instruments, intended for solar energy harvesting applications. The capture, storage, and autonomy capabilities of the module will be evaluated in order to determine the feasibility of using this concept to provide the necessary power at the nodes of a WSN. (AU)