Wireless Sensor Networks

Like any sentient organism, the smart environment relies first and foremost on sensory data from the real world. Sensory data comes from multiple sensors of different modalities in distributed locations. The smart environment needs information about its surroundings as well as about its internal workings; this is captured in biological systems by the distinction between exteroceptors and proprioceptors. The study of wireless sensor networks is challenging in that it requires an enormous breadth of knowledge from an enormous variety of disciplines. In this chapter we outline communication networks, wireless sensor networks and smart sensors, physical transduction principles, commercially available wireless sensor systems, self-organization, signal processing and decision-making, and finally some concepts for home automation.