Comparative analysis of wireless sensor network motes

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) applications range from simple data gathering to hard to imagine fields like Internet of Things. For all the applications the physical design space consists of sensors extended with storage, power supply, computation and communication capabilities, the so-called motes. These motes run the network protocol programs that most of the time sleep, and occasionally collect, process, store and communicate the data to Base Station (BS). The number of protocol proposals has increased but unfortunately the number of mote studies has not. This paper discusses the essential subsystems of motes, surveys and does a comparative analysis of well-known motes. The motes are selected based on a number of criteria including popularity, published results, interesting characteristics and features. The motes are analyzed using a number of different parameters and criteria, including processor used, lifetime, cost, software support, size, their strengths and weaknesses. Simulation of LEACH protocol using motes discussed in the paper is carried out and a comparative analysis of network lifetime, data transmitted and energy consumption of network is presented. The goal of work is to aid WSN application developers to select appropriate mote for their network or determine features that should be included on a custom built sensor node platform.