What Is A Wireless Sensor Network?

With the NI wireless sensor network (WSN) platform, you easily can monitor your assets or environment with reliable, battery-powered measurement nodes that offer industrial ratings and local analysis and control capabilities. Each wireless network can scale from tens to hundreds of nodes and seamlessly integrate with existing wired measurement and control systems.

Understanding the WSN Architecture

A wireless sensor network consists of three main components: nodes, gateways, and software. The spatially distributed measurement nodes interface with sensors to monitor assets or their environment. The acquired data wirelessly transmits to the gateway, which can operate independently or connect to a host system where you can collect, process, analyze, and present your measurement data using software. Routers are a special type of measurement node that you can use to extend WSN distance and reliability. Learn more about each of these components in the sections below.

• Architectures
• Gateways
• Measurement Nodes
• Software

WSN Architecture

 

WSN Architectures

Combine different types of nodes and gateways to meet the unique needs of your application. Create a simple, PC-based wireless sensor network (WSN) monitoring system with the NI WSN-9791 Ethernet gateway, or a headless, embedded monitoring system with the NI 9792 programmable gateway, which can run deployed NI LabVIEW Real-Time applications. For applications that require the combination of high-speed I/O (or control) and distributed wireless monitoring, take advantage of the NI 9795 C Series WSN gateway.