Experimental Analysis of Wireless Sensor Nodes Current Consumption

Wireless sensor node (WSN) lifetime is correlated with the battery current usage profile. State of the art in wireless sensor nodes current consumption shows that available models have not been extensively tested and experimentally validated. This work aims to seek answers to the following questions: is it accurate the node lifetime prediction obtained with available models? Moreover, is the radio transceiver always responsible for depleting the battery? In order to perform experimental evaluations, we implemented a prototype board that enables to visualize charge extracted from batteries and battery current consumption waveforms of wireless sensor nodes. We selected benchmarks that represent usual tasks in WSN applications and we made experimental evaluations of battery current consumption. Finally, a battery full-depletion time measurement has been performed. Overall results are presented and discussed.