Robert P. Adler

Design and deployment of industrial sensor networks: experiences from a semiconductor plant and the north sea

Sensing technology is a cornerstone for many industrial applications. Manufacturing plants and engineering facilities, such as shipboard engine rooms, require sensors to ensure product quality and efficient and safe operation. We focus on one representative application, preventative equipment maintenance, in which vibration signatures are gathered to predict equipment failure. Based on application requirements and site surveys, we develop a general architecture for this class of industrial applications. This architecture meets the applications data fidelity needs through careful state preservation and over-sampling. We describe the impact of implementing the architecture on two sensing platforms with differing processor and communication capabilities. We present a systematic performance comparison between these platforms in the context of the application. We also describe our experience and lessons learned in two settings: in a semiconductor fabrication plant and onboard an oil tanker in the North Sea. Finally, we establish design guidelines for an ideal platform and architecture for industrial applications. This paper includes several unique contributions: a study of the impact of platform on architecture, a comparison of two deployments in the same application class, and a demonstration of application return on investment.

IMOTE2: Serious Computation at the Edge

While the majority of sensor network application research to date has focused on applications where the controlling processor need only be capable of handling simple communications and data primitives required for low rate sampling, comparatively few researchers have targeted the other end of the spectrum; applications where there is a significant advantage to performing data processing at the edge of the network. This paper describes Imote2, an advanced sensor network node that enables such usage models, and introduces several applications and scenarios where we have found such edge processing to be a significant advantage.

Intel Mote 2: an advanced platform for demanding sensor network applications

Intel Mote 2 is based on the PXA271 microprocessor featuring the Intel XScale® core. This multi-die package includes a high performance processor, 32 MB of flash and 32 MB of SDRAM. The processor integrates a DSP coprocessor, a security coprocessor and an expanded set of I/O interfaces (including UART, I2C, SPI, USB, CIF, I2S, and AC97) to ease sensor integration. The platform also provides an on-board 802.15.4 radio and the option to add other wireless interfaces via an SDIO interface. We have ported the TinyOS and Linux operating systems to this platform.

Edge Processing and Enterprise Integration: Closing the Gap on Deployable Industrial Sensor Networks

The next frontier of sensor networking is integration: building operational systems that meet business requirements and integrate with existing business processes. We describe an industrial deployment and the system architecture that overcomes challenges in energy efficiency, system reliability, data fidelity, and flexible integration. We evaluate the performance of these deployments and consider various system enhancements that impact performance.