GOAT: Development of a Wireless Sensor Network analysis tool

Barrachina Muñoz, Sergio

GOAT: Development of a Wireless Sensor Network analysis tool

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Citation

Barrachina Muñoz, S. GOAT: Development of a Wireless Sensor Network analysis tool. 2015. handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10230/25276

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Abstract

Looking at the trend followed by information and communication technologies, we can note a constant evolution towards embedded devices, becoming smaller and more efficient, endowed with greater processing power, storage capacity and ease of communications. Based on these technological advances, network physiognomies have changed from being composed of a limited number of wired connected nodes to a central computer, to be smaller, cheaper and lower power devices capable of processing information locally and transfer it wirelessly. In that sense, Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are positioned to be one of the fastest growing fields of study in the next years. WSNs are based on sensor nodes, which are low cost and low consumption devices able to obtain data from their environment, process it locally, and then communicate it via wireless links to a central coordinating node, known as sink. Due to the small size of the nodes, batteries must also be small; therefore saving energy consumption is vital in these networks since it is not always possible to recharge them. Hence, there is a need to meet the goal of energy efficiency, which is to maximize the lifetime of the network while still providing the applications required quality of service (QoS). This project intends to make possible the analysis of the effect of different Medium Access Control (MAC) and routing protocols on energy consumption in several low node density WSNs scenarios (up to 1,000 nodes). To that end, the GOAT software tool has been developed. GOAT is a graphical network analysis tool that allows designing WSNs and estimating its energy consumption and overall lifetime in thoroughly configurable scenarios. The aim of the tool is to base future WSN designs on the results gathered through the simulations.