A GPS anchor node for outdoor wireless sensor network applications

The location of the anchor node in the wireless sensor network is a key component for calculating the location information of other nodes. An anchor node with GPS location aware is implemented in this study. The power of the anchor node is supplied by two 2600 mAh Li-ion batteries charged by the solar energy. The periodic wakeup scheme with an accelerometer trigger is employed. To determine the decision threshold, the Bayes decision rule is employed. The power consumptions for each components are analyzed and the total power consumption is then formulated. The effects of environment on measured latitudes and longitudes are studied and the variation of the measured data varies in the range of 50 mini-arcsecond. By adjusting the wakeup period, the proposed GPS anchor node can be applied to many outdoor applications that require long last power with little maintenance.