Enabling densely-scalable low-power WSNs for shipping and industrial IoT

Abstract

Low-power technologies and communication protocols have enabled pervasive monitoring and the Internet of Things (IoT) for diverse applications. Yet, many wide-reaching use-cases such as shipping and industrial IoT (IIoT) demand next-generation energy-efficiency for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The enormous growth requirements in this and related fields are not easily met by current state-of-the-art prototypes and comparisons are nontrivial among dozens of differentiating characteristics and impact factors. This work ideates a lightweight densely-scalable network of sensor nodes that must survive on a coin-cell battery for 15 days minimum, sending minute-to-minute alerts for remote analytics and control. This end-to-end solution enables status tracking throughout the shipping lifecycle with a quick-deploy WSN to detect damage/theft in near-real-time. This work contributes a scalable WSN (1) communication protocol, (2) software development kit, and (3) reference hardware. This full-stack system offers a self-configuring, customizable WSN for low-duty-cycle pervasive monitoring in a small, low-cost form-factor.