Reconfigurable universal sensor interface for distributed wireless sensor nodes

Wireless sensor networks of today play a large role in industrial grade field data acquisition systems. The need for vast sensor compatibility will be an evident requirement as wireless sensor networks go mobile and become autonomous. Current technologies make use of multiple signal conditioning circuits which result in bulky power hungry wireless sensor nodes. This paper presents an implementation of a reconfigurable universal transducer interface based on a CMOS multiplexer network supporting a vast diversity of industrial sensors while being compact and energy efficient, which is conducive to wireless sensor networking. The concept, design scheme, prototype implementation with industrial components and the results of integrating this interface into a prototype wireless sensor node are discussed in this paper to illustrate potential applications in mass scale data acquisition based on wireless sensor networks.