Energy efficiency analysis of wireless sensors used in infrastructure monitoring

This paper discusses the implementation of a wireless sensor network for infrastructure monitoring. A prototype system using IEEE 802.15.4 standard compliant transceiver has been tested in a laboratory. Since battery powered wireless sensors smaller in size are usually preferred for easy deployment, the energy efficiency and lifetime has to be carefully evaluated before field deployment. The power consumption for different operation scenarios has been tested, and battery lifetime is analyzed based on the test results. The feasibility of the proposed system in infrastructure monitoring is discussed.