An integrated environment for visualization of distributed wireless sensor networks

With the advance of MEMS sensors and wireless communication technologies, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) become ubiquitous. However, design, monitor and control of WSNs are not trivial tasks. To assist the design and monitoring of a WSN, computer aided software tools are essential; both of designers and users need these tools to model and simulate WSNs. Most of existing simulators have been developed for designers; while a few of user-oriented tools are confined to a specific platform or system. In this paper, a modular framework is proposed for modeling and simulation of WSNs, and the aspects of monitoring and visualization are focused. The framework serves for both of designers and users. The programming solutions to some generic functions have been provided. The developed system is open to adapt special modules. To maximize scalability and flexibility of the system, the Eclipse platform and Java have been used for the development. The resulted integrated system accommodates different operating systems such as Windows and Linux. It is capable of integrating other plug-ins developed in various languages such as Java, C, C++ and Matlab. The user-friendly Graphic User Interface (GUI) is developed to create and visualize the acquired real-time data of WSN. The embodied methodologies are capable of predicting the behaviors of objects in network. The integrated visualization system has been illustrated through a case study simulation.