WSN technologies for low data rate and power constrained applications

This paper discusses the use of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) for low data rate and power constrained applications like precision agriculture. Studies of different WSN technologies were conducted and their utility in precision agriculture was evaluated. A ZigBee based sensor node was implemented and field tested. The Sensor Network was also simulated in network simulator (NS2.34) and various network parameters were studied. A novel approach for reducing the cost up to four times as compared with ZigBee based WSN was presented. A comparison of different technologies on the basis of cost is also presented in this paper. Power consumption by sensor nodes is studied and an approach to reduce this energy consumption was proposed. It is expected that this paper will promote the use of WSN in agriculture.