IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 8, NO.

4, APRIL 2008

415

An Environmental Air Pollution Monitoring System Based on the IEEE 1451 Standard for Low Cost Requirements
Nihal Kularatna, Senior Member, IEEE, and B. H. Sudantha, Member, IEEE
AbstractAn Environmental Air Pollution Monitoring System (EAPMS) for monitoring the concentrations of major air pollutant gases has been developed, complying with the IEEE 1451.2 standard. This system measures concentrations of gases such as CO, NO2 , SO2 , and O3 using semiconductor sensors. The smart transducer interface module (STIM) was implemented using the analog devices ADuC812 microconverter. Network Capable Application Processor (NCAP) was developed using a personal computer and connected to the STIM via the transducer independent interface. Three gas sensors were calibrated using the standard calibration methods. Gas concentration levels and information regarding the STIM can be seen on the graphical user interface of the NCAP. Further, the EAPMS is capable of warning when the pollutant levels exceed predetermined maxima and the system can be developed into a low cost version for developing countries. Index TermsAir pollution monitoring, electronic data sheet, IEEE 1451, network capable application processor, semiconductor gas sensors, smart transducers, transducer independent interface (TII).
TABLE I COMPARISON BETWEEN ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS AND GAS SENSORS [6], [8]

I. INTRODUCTION VER THE past quarter century, there has been an exponential increase of industries, and these industries have caused complex and serious problems to the environment. The rst and the foremost is the severe environmental pollution which has caused deterioration of atmosphere, climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, loss of biodiversity, changes in hydrological systems and the supplies of fresh water, land degradation and stresses on systems of food producing, acid rain, and global warming [1]. In addition to industries, automobiles, agricultural activities, and even ordinary homes contribute towards the environmental pollution [2], particularly in some developing countries such as Sri Lanka [3]. Stationary and mobile sources release various chemical pollutants, including suspended particulate matter (SPM), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NO ), oxides of sulfur (SO ), lead aerosol, volatile organic compounds (VOC), and other toxics. It is well known that some of these chemical pollutants have increased

the occurrence of diseases such as lung cancer, pneumonia, asthma, chronic bronchitis, coronary artery disease, and chronic pulmonary diseases [4], [5]. Environmental pollution has several aspects. The most serious aspect of environmental pollution is the air pollution, while two other aspects are water and soil pollution. Any hazardous gas can spread over an extensive region within a short-time interval causing a huge and irreparable damage [6]. Hence, there is a growing demand for the environmental pollution monitoring and control systems. In view of the ever-increasing pollution sources with toxic chemicals, these systems should have the facilities to detect and quantify the sources rapidly. II. GAS SENSORS A gas sensor is a transducer that detects gas molecules and produces an electrical signal with a magnitude proportional to the concentration of the gas. To date, no gas sensors exist that are 100% selective to a single gas. Hence, it is necessary to use instruments that employ analytical techniques to identify gases. Examples of such instruments are Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) instruments, gas chromatographs, and mass spectrometers. These instruments provide fairly accurate and selective gas readings. However, these analytical instruments suffer from disadvantages such as: (i) the requirement of skilled operators; (ii) expensive; (iii) designed for laboratory tabletops or specic online applications for in-plant installations; (iv) high maintenance cost; (v) slow response time; and (vi) large size [7]. These reasons make them impractical for area air quality and safety, particularly in developing countries. Therefore, a gas sensor that is compact, robust, with versatile applications, and low cost could be an equally effective alternative [6]. Table I presents several feature comparisons between gas sensors and analytical instruments.

Manuscript received October 22, 2007; accepted November 29, 2007. The associate editor coordinating the review of this paper and approving it for publication was Prof. Evgeny Katz. N. Kularatna is with the Department of Engineering, School of Science and Engineering, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand (e-mail: nihalkul@waikato.ac.nz; nihalkul@xtra.co.nz). B. H. Sudantha is with the Department of Physics, University of Sri Jayawardanepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda 10250, Sri Lanka. Color versions of one or more of the gures in this paper are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Digital Object Identier 10.1109/JSEN.2008.917477

1530-437X/$25.00 2008 IEEE

416

IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 8, NO. 4, APRIL 2008

TABLE II CLASSIFICATION OF SENSOR MATERIALS [8], [15]

Recent research and development on solid-state gas sensors have improved their performances dramatically [6]. Five commonly used technologies for gas monitors are: electrochemical, infrared, catalytic bead, photo ionization, and solid-state [7]. More details of these sensors including their usage, lifetime, advantages, and disadvantages could be found in [9][12]. Modern semiconductor gas sensors are capable of detecting more than 150 different gases. They have many advantages including longer lifetime than catalytic bead and electrochemical sensors, lower cost, and compact size. These sensors are widely used in various applications: automotive, consumer, commercial, industrial, indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring, and environmental monitoring [13], [14]. III. SEMICONDUCTOR GAS SENSORS A semiconductor sensor consists of one or more metal oxides such as tin oxide, aluminum oxide, etc. When heated to a high temperature, an n-type semiconductor material decreases its resistance, while p-type increases the resistance in the presence of a reducing gas [8]. Table II shows the details. Typically, a semiconductor sensor produces a strong signal, especially at high gas concentrations [14], [16], [17] with adequate sensitivity, fast response time, long-term stability, and longer lifetime. However, the main disadvantage is the lack of selectivity. These disadvantages and secondary problems have been rectied by using the special strategies, further details could be found in [15] and [18]. IV. THEORY OF OPERATION The conductivity of the sensing element, which is formed by metal-oxide semiconductor material, changes according to gas concentration. For example, in an n-type SnO sensing material when the SnO crystal is heated to a certain temperature in air, oxygen is absorbed at the solid-gas interface of the sensor and forms surface oxygen ions with negative charge, creating a potential barrier against electron ow between SnO particles. This potential barrier increases the resistivity of the material preventing carriers from moving freely. In the presence of a reducing gas, the surface density of the negative oxygen ions decreases. Consequently, the height of the potential barrier decreases and as a result, the resistivity of the material falls according to a logarithmic function. This characteristic is illustrated in Fig. 1. The correlation of the sensor resistance ( ) and the concentration of a reducing gas ( ) can be expressed in the following general function [8], [16], [17]: (1)

Fig. 1. Typical sensitivity characteristics of a SnO based CO sensor [16], [17].

where electrical resistance of the sensor; electrical resistance of sensor at zero ppm; a constant for particular; gas concentration in ppm. The low cost semiconductor sensors are suitable to use in an array form for low cost environment pollution monitoring systems. Such an array could be enhanced with additional temperature, pressure, and relative humidity sensors to measure the pollutant concentrations together with other physical parameters, with the advantage of better calibration of the gas sensors. V. AIR POLLUTION AND AIR QUALITY STANDARDS Air pollution is a major environmental health threat to humans and especially children. For children under ve, it can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in adults. Acute lower respiratory track infections, especially pneumonia, are the biggest killers of young children and cause more than 2 million annual deaths [19]. The illnesses and their effects caused by the pollutants could be found in [2], and [21][27]. More than 384 hazardous gases have been identied in the environment [20]. However, of these gases six pollutants: CO, NO , ground level O , SO , particulate matter (PM), and lead are the most dangerous and are known as the common air pollutants or criteria air pollutants. Several clean air quality standards are published by various authorities and institutes in the world. Tables III and IV show the common air pollutant concentrations in WHO standards and the local standards in Sri Lanka where this work was carried out. VI. IEEE 1451 STANDARD FOR A SMART TRANSDUCER INTERFACE FOR SENSORS AND ACTUATORS The objectives of the IEEE P1451-Standards for Smart Transducer Interface for Sensors and Actuators were to dene a set of common communication interfaces for connecting transducers to microprocessor-based systems, instruments, and eld networks in a network-independent environment. The IEEE

KULARATNA AND SUDANTHA: AN ENVIRONMENTAL AIR POLLUTION MONITORING SYSTEM BASED ON THE IEEE 1451 STANDARD

417

TABLE III WHO AIR QUALITY GUIDELINES [28]

TABLE V SPECIFICATIONS OF THE GAS SENSORS USED IN THE EAPMS

TABLE IV AIR QUALITY REGULATIONS OF SRI LANKA [29]

Fig. 3. Signal conditioning and conversion circuits and ADuC812 connections. Fig. 2. Detailed block diagram of the environmental air pollution monitoring system.

1451 standard makes it easier for transducer manufacturers and system designers to develop smart devices and to interface those devices to networks, systems, and instruments. This standard is comprised of seven parts and each of them has different aspects of the interface standard [30][35]. In this project, the standard 1451.2 was used to implement the smart transducer interface module (STIM) with semiconductor gas sensors. VII. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SENSOR ARRAY AND STIM A. Sensor Array The Environmental Air Pollution Monitoring System (EAPMS) measures concentrations of major air pollutant gases, CO, NO , SO , and O using a semiconductor sensor array. The sensor array is connected to the STIM. In addition to that a warning generation buzzer is also connected. The STIM is linked to an Network Capable Application Processor (NCAP) PC through transducer independent interface (TII). Fig. 2 depicts the block diagram of the EAPMS. Table V shows some details of the sensors used in the EAPMS. All the gas sensors listed in Table V have high sensitivity and selectivity to target gas. All three sensors have similar characteristics such as improved range and repeatability, relatively insensitivity to uctuations in relative humidity, and can operate in reducing conditions, low-power consumption, and long lifetime [36][38]. All are chip type sensors where the sensing material is constantly heated to approximately 400 C in order to receive gas

response. To maintain the stability of the device, it is important to regulate the operating temperature of the sensor. Typical characteristic curves and other details of the sensors are given in [36][38]. A gas sensing standard module consisting of a built-in semiconductor ozone sensor and a signal conditioning circuit was used for ozone with a response time of about 1 min, long lifetime, small size, and low-power consumption (1 W maximum). The module has a direct signal output line with a full-scale range of 0 to 1 V in the presence of ozone 0100 ppb [39]. The sensors were connected to signal conditioning circuits. Consequently, the output signals were fed to ADC channels of the ADuC812 microconverter for conversion into digital form. Fig. 3 depicts the signal conditioning and conversion block of the system. B. Smart Transducer Interface Module (STIM) The STIM must be capable of handling the actuator interface, supporting TEDS, communicating with NCAP, and supporting 1451.2 TII interface. Hence, a microcontroller had to be selected considering the above facts. Therefore, Analog Devices ADuC812 Microconverter was chosen to implement the STIM. It has almost all the facilities for STIM implementation [40]. The ADuC812 is a fully integrated 12-bit data acquisition system incorporating a high-performance self-calibrating multichannel ADC, dual DAC, and programmable 8-bit 8051-compatible MCU on a single chip. The 8051-compatible core is supported by 8 kB ash/EE program memory, 640 bytes ash/EE data memory, and 256 bytes data SRAM on chip. Additionally,

418

IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 8, NO. 4, APRIL 2008

TABLE VI ENUMERATION OF THE CHANNELS DEFINED IN THE STIM

Fig. 4. Memory map of the ash/EE data ash.

MCU supports more functions. I C compatible, SPI and standard UART serial port I/O are provided for multiprocessor interfaces and I/O expansion [41]. The 1451.2 interface requires eight signal lines, TEDS requires ash/EE memory space, transducer interface needs ADCs, DACs and several other I/O lines, and STIM control program needs ash/EE program memory. The ADuC812 was quite suitable for implementing the STIM [41]. VIII. STRUCTURE OF TRANSDUCER ELECTRONIC DATA SHEET (TEDS) The TEDS was created in the 640 bytes on-chip ash/EE data memory of the ADuC812. In this application, mandatory TEDS were dened including Meta-TEDS and ve Channel TEDS for transducers. These TEDS must be resident in the ash/EE data memory for the lifetime of STIM. No modication is required for the current set of transducers and modication should be carried out, if there is any change of transducers. The ADuC812 ash data memory area consists of 640 bytes (0 280 bytes) that are congured into 160 (Page 0 00 to Page 0 9 F), 4-byte pages. It is accessed one page (4 bytes) at a time basis. Thus, the address space of the memory area is 0 00 to Page 0 9 F [41]. Hence, the TEDS were arranged, as depicted in the Fig. 4. The data structure of Meta-TEDS data block contains 29 elds including TEDS version number, globally unique identier (UUID), number of implemented channels, and maximum data rate [30]. Further details of the TEDS types are in [30]. A Channel TEDS contains 30 data elds. Five channel TEDS were also dened in the data ash area. These Meta and Channel TEDS were created in the ash memory by the main STIM program and the supporting header les. implementation C TEDS were written starting from the rst eld placing the most signicant byte rst. In the EAPMS, the STIM has been built with six channels including Channel-0. Channel-0 was congured as global by specifying all channels and other mandatory information. Subsequently, CO, NO , SO , and O gas sensors have been connected to Channel-1 to Channel-4, respectively. The warning generator buzzer was connected to Channel-5. Table VI shows the details of the channels used.
Fig. 5. TII hardware implementation.

IX. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRANSDUCER INDEPENDENT INTERFACE (TII) The TII was established as the communication channel between the STIM and the NCAP based on the data transfer protocols specied by the IEEE 1451.2 standard. As shown in Fig. 5, one of the destinations of the interface was the STIM and the other was the parallel port of the NCAP PC. A parallel port was selected to implement the TII, because the TII has ten lines including eight signal lines and two power lines. The IEEE 1284 parallel port standard [45] denes ve operating modes including most common SPP, EPP, and ECP. Of these three modes EPP and ECP are having transfer rates of about 500 kBps2 MBps [42]. The output of the parallel port is normally TTL compatible logic levels. Thus, a parallel port of a PC was used to implement the TII. However, the NCAP should be capable of providing the power to the STIM which is no more than 75 mA. This requirement could not be achieved because a parallel port can sink or source only around 12 mA (according to the various PC manuals, the current varies from 4 to 20 mA). Therefore, a separate power supply was used and in order to comply with the standard, the supplying of power was controlled by the NCAP via parallel port. Consequently, the signal lines were connected to a bus transceiver at the STIM end. On the STIM side, TII was connected to SPI lines of the ADuC812 and to some digital I/O lines. The TII is a superset of the SPI and therefore, DCLK, DIN, DOUT, and NIOE lines

KULARATNA AND SUDANTHA: AN ENVIRONMENTAL AIR POLLUTION MONITORING SYSTEM BASED ON THE IEEE 1451 STANDARD

419

were connected to SPI lines. The complete TII hardware implementation is illustrated in Fig. 5 depicting power control and hot swap capability. X. GENERAL PROTOCOLS The data transfer functions have been implemented using the protocols described in the IEEE 1451.2. The triggering and data transport functions and controlling of the data rate are handled by the NCAP. A data transport frame begins by the NCAP sending an address to the STIM. The complete address species whether data are to be written or to be read from the STIM, and which channel and functions are involved. Triggering is normally used before reading a sensor or after writing to an actuator. Data is transferred in bit-serial format from the NCAP to the STIM via D and from the STIM to the under the control of DCLK [30]. Byte read NCAP via D and write transfer functions and frame read and write transfer functions (between NCAP and STIM) [30]. The active control of power method enables the NCAP in order to provide power only if the STIM is present. This eliminates the possibility of shorts in devices. The active control of power method was implemented in EAPMS by detecting the STIM and providing power to the STIM only in the presence of STIM. XI. THE STIM KERNALMAIN CONTROL PROGRAM The STIM kernel program has three main functions: trigger, data transport, and interrupt. Each of these functions has special tasks and works cooperatively with the NCAP. The functions have been integrated in the STIM kernel and its ow chart is illustrated in Fig. 6. After receiving power, the STIM kernel executes all initializations routines including the TII initialization, memory clearing processes, loading the TEDS, setting the channel data buffers, and status registers. Subsequently, it enters into an innite loop and goes through the processes, as shown in the ow chart. The STIM kernel program comprises several software modules delanguage. Having compiled, these modveloped using the C ules have been downloaded into the 8 kB ash/EE program memory of the ADuC812. XII. THE NCAP PROGRAM The NCAP program has two main sub programs: controlling of the STIM and providing the graphical user interface (GUI). The STIM controlling program executes triggering, data transport, and interrupt request functions. In addition, it also supports the TII through the parallel port and controls the STIM power with the facility of active power control [43]. The GUI displays the STIM information, gas concentrations, and the status of the STIM. Moreover, it provides the facility to add the user interactions to trigger the STIM and send functional addresses to the required channel. The NCAP program was developed using the Visual Basic 6.0 language. A screen shot of the NCAP GUI is shown in Fig. 7. XIII. CALIBRATION OF THE GAS SENSORS There are two calibration methods that are available: static chamber method and dynamic chamber method. The static

Fig. 6. STIM kernel ow chart.

Fig. 7. A screen shot of the NCAP GUI.

chamber calibration method was selected to calibrate the sensors of the array. The static chamber was constructed using inert and silicon free materials because volatile organic silicones will

420

IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 8, NO. 4, APRIL 2008

Fig. 10. CO concentration (48%55% RH, 23 Fig. 8. CO calibration curve.

C25

C).

Fig. 9. SO calibration curve.

be measured accurately due to the inability of determination of the inside free space. Therefore, approximated values were used for the sensor volumes. The random errors were introduced during the gas injection processes. The standard medical syringes were used to inject the gases to the calibration chambers. The systematic error of the calibration was a small value compared with the random error. This shows that the contribution of the systematic error to the nal uncertainty was very low. Therefore, to minimize the nal error the random errors were to be minimized. This can be done using the calibration instruments manufactured with higher accuracy. XV. RESULTS

deteriorate the sensor surface and, hence, degrade the sensor performance [8]. The calibration procedure has been carried out in two steps: rst nding the initial position (zero) of the sensor and second determining the span of the sensor. To nd the zero value of a sensor, it is required to use zero air. However, there is no established standard that denes zero air [44]. Many laboratories use pure nitrogen or pure synthetic air to calibrate the zero point. By contrast, some others who refuse the synthetic air use ambient air when the area is considered to be clean. Both zero air types were used. The CO sensor was calibrated with the bottled synthetic zero air, while SO was calibrated using the clean air in the laboratory. Ambient temperature and humidity of the laboratory were measured daily and the calibration procedure was carried out when the temperature was in the range of 20 C25 C, while the relative humidity was in the range of 45%50%. This procedure was adopted as there was no way of controlling the temperature and the relative humidity of the laboratory. Figs. 8 and 9 depict the calibration curves of CO and SO , respectively. XIV. THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE MEASUREMENTS There were two types of errors: systematic and random which can be identied in the calibration procedure. The systematic errors occurred with the determination of the calibration chamber volume, volumes of the sensors, volume of the mixer fan, and other supporting parts within the calibration chamber. These errors were minimized using the accurate measuring instruments. However, the sensor volumes could not

The main goal of this project was to build an environmental air pollution monitoring system (EAPMS) which is capable of measuring common air pollutant concentrations using a semiconductor sensor array and the IEEE 1451 standards, especially the IEEE 1451.2 standard. Having aimed towards this goal, several hardware and software implementation modules such as the semiconductor sensor array, the STIM, the TII, and the NCAP program have been successfully developed. These modules were built using the guidelines provided by the IEEE 1451.2 standard. The sensors were calibrated using the standard static chamber method and, hence, the instrument can be used in real environment to measure the ambient air pollution levels of the above mentioned gases. The current pollutant levels of the target gases can be directly read from the NCAP GUI. These sensors are highly vulnerable to silicon-based chemicals, and care was taken when the system is used in such environments. This type of chemicals such as volatile organic silicones will deteriorate the sensor surface and, hence, degrade the sensor performance. Sometimes, depending on the exposure level, these can cause an irreversible damage to the sensors. In addition, the sensors have minor uctuations to relative humidity and ambient temperature. Normally, the sensors function properly at 50% RH and 21 C. The sets of eld measurement readings of CO, NO , and SO sensors were recorded at a normal laboratory environment, while the O sensor measurement was taken near a photocopy machine. Figs. 1012 show the concentration levels of the places over a certain time period.

KULARATNA AND SUDANTHA: AN ENVIRONMENTAL AIR POLLUTION MONITORING SYSTEM BASED ON THE IEEE 1451 STANDARD

421

The ve smart transducers have the plug-and-play capability: the gas pollutant monitoring STIM can be moved from one NCAP to another. This capability provided by the standard is a great advantage to the system designers and sensor manufacturers, and it reduces the burden of designing various products to suit various networks. The semiconductor gas sensors can be successfully used to monitor the target gas concentrations. The usage of the semiconductor sensors adds several advantages to a system such as low cost, quick response, low maintenance, ability to produce continuous measurements, etc.
Fig. 11. NO and SO concentration (48%55% RH, 23 C25 C).

REFERENCES
[1] WHO, Global Environmental Change, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2005. [2] WHO, Chemical Hazards, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2005. [3] Urban Air Quality Management Project, Vehicle emissions and pollution costs, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Sri Lanka, 2003, pp. 5965. [4] Air Resource Management Centre, Vehicle-related air pollutants and public health, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Sri Lanka, May 2003, pp. 611. [5] Urban Air Quality Management Project, Impact of fuel changes on exhaust and evaporative emissions, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Sri Lanka, May 2003, pp. 7585. [6] D. D. Lee and D. S. Lee, Environmental gas sensors, IEEE Sensors J., vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 214215, Oct. 2001. [7] IST, Chapter 1Introduction International Sensor Technology, pp. 14. [8] Capteur Sensors, Principle of operation, General Information on the Capteur NGL07 Carbon Monoxide Sensors, Capteur Sensors, U.K., 2000, pp. 113. [9] IST, Chapter 3Catalytic Bead Combustible Gas Sensors, International Sensor Technology, CA, pp. 3745. [Online]. Available: http:// www.intlsensor.com/ [10] IST, Chapter 5Infrared Gas Sensors, International Sensor Technology, CA, pp. 5572. [Online]. Available: http://www.intlsensor. com/ [11] IST, Chapter 6Photoionization Detectors, International Sensor Technology, CA, pp. 7381. [Online]. Available: http://www. intlsensor.com/ [12] IST, Chapter 8Sensor Selection Guide, International Sensor Technology, CA, pp. 103109. [Online]. Available: http://www.intlsensor. com/ [13] Sensor Industry Developments and Trends, Sensors Express, Nov. 2002. [Online]. Available: www.sensorsmag.com [14] IST, Chapter 4Solid State Gas Sensors, International Sensor Technology, CA, pp. 4748. [15] City Technology, Semiconductor Sensors, City Technology Ltd. Hampshire, U.K. [16] FIS, Sensors and Systems TechnologyProducts Review. Osaka, Japan, FIS Inc., Jun. 1998, pp. 516. [17] FIGARO, Technical Information on Usage of TGS Sensors for Toxic and Explosive Gas Leak Detectors. Osaka, Japan, Figaro Engineering Inc., Nov. 2004, pp. 26. [18] E. Llobet et al., Multicomponent gas mixture analysis using a single tin oxide sensor and dynamic pattern recognition, IEEE Sensors J., vol. 1, no. 3, p. 207, Oct. 2001. [19] WHO, Air pollution, Childrens Environmental Health (CEH), World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2005. [20] IST, Hazardous Gas Data, International Sensor Technology, CA, pp. 12. [21] U.S. EPA, What are the six common air pollutants?, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mar. 2005. [Online]. Available: www.epa. gov, U.S. EPA, Ofcial Web page, last up-date on 24th Mar.2005 [22] U.S. EPA, CO: What is it? Where does it come from?, Six Common Air Pollutants U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mar. 2005. [23] U.S. EPA, NO : What is it? Where does it come from?, Six Common Air Pollutants, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mar. 2005. [24] U.S. EPA, Ground level ozone: What is it? Where does it come from?, Six Common Air Pollutants, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mar. 2005.

Fig. 12. O concentration (48%53% RH, 23

C27 C).

XVI. FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS 1) A relative humidity sensor and a temperature sensor could be added to simultaneously monitor the RH and temperature values and use it for improving uncertainties. 2) In the current version of the EAPMS, the STIM is working under the control of the NCAP. However, if the STIM is improved with an LCD display unit and memories, it can be used as a standalone portable instrument and a data logger. 3) The NCAP program currently controls the STIM with 1000 kb/s xed clock rate. This clock rate should be improved by receiving the direct PC clock rates. 4) Another useful improvement to the system is developing a wireless link between the STIM and the NCAP. This is useful for remote monitoring and air pollution monitoring without user interaction. The IEEE P1451.5 wireless standard can be used for the development. 5) Based on the improvement suggested in 2 and 4, the multiple devices of the system can be installed near highly congested roads for data collection from a central location. XVII. CONCLUSION The environmental air pollution monitoring system has been successfully implemented in compliance with the IEEE 1451.2 standard with the main functional blocks: the STIM, the TII, and the NCAP. Therefore, the goal of the IEEE 1451.2 standard is to provide an industry standard interface to efciently connect transducers to microcontrollers and to connect microcontrollers to networks was achieved.

422

IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 8, NO. 4, APRIL 2008

[25] U.S. EPA, SO : What is it? Where does it come from?, Six Common Air Pollutants, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mar. 2005. [26] U.S. EPA, PMHow particulate matter affects the way we live & breathe, Six Common Air Pollutants, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mar. 2005. [27] AIRNOW, A guide to air quality and your health, Air Quality Index, A Cross-Agency U.S. Government Web Site. 24th Mar. 2005. [Online]. Available: www.epa.gov/airnow [28] Air Quality Guidelines for Europe, 2nd ed. Copenhagen, Denmark: WHO Regional Publications, 2000, pp. 149152, Edition, European Series No. 91, pp. 77, pp. 175196. [29] Sri Lankan Government, The National Environment Act, No. 47 of 1980, Ministry of Transport, Highway, Environment and Womens Affairs, Gazette Extraordinary of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Oct. 1984. [30] IEEE Standard for a Smart Transducer Interface for Sensors and ActuatorsTransducer to Microprocessor Communication Protocols and Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) Formats, IEEE Standard 1451.21997, IEEE, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., NY, 1997. [31] R. L. Fischer and J. Burch, The PICmicro MCU as an IEEE 1451.2 Compatible Smart Transducer Interface Module (STIM), Microchip Technology Inc., 2000, Application Note. AN214. [32] N. Kularatna, Sensors, in Modern Component Families and Circuit Block Design. Woburn, MA: Butterworth- Heinemann, 2000, ch. 7, pp. 330333. [33] NIST, IEEE-P1451 Draft Standard for Smart Transducer Interface for Sensors and Actuators, National Institute of Standards and Technology, IEEE 1451, Nov. 2001. [Online]. Available: www.nist.gov [34] K. Lee, A Synopsis of the IEEE P1451Standards for Smart Transducer Communication. Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology, p. 1. [35] K. B. Lee and R. D. Schneeman, A standardized approach for transducer interfacing: Implementing IEEE-P1451 smart transducer interface draft standards, in Proc. Sensors Expo, Oct. 1996, pp. 8897. [36] Analog Devices, The ADuC812 MicroConverter as an IEEE 1451.2 Compatible Smart Transducer Interface, MicroConverter Technical NoteuC003 The ADuC812 as an IEEE 1451.2 STIM Analog Devices, Inc. Norwood, Sep. 1999. [37] IEEE Standard for a Smart Transducer Interface for Sensors and ActuatorsNetwork Capable Application Processor (NCAP) Information Model, IEEE Sandard 1451.11999, 1999. [38] Capteur Sensors Data Sheet, NGL07: Carbon Monoxide Sensor, Issue 2.1, Capteur Sensors U.K., 2000. [39] Capteur Sensors Data Sheet, LGS10: Nitrogen Dioxide Sensor, Issue 5.1, Capteur Sensors U.K., 1999. [40] Capteur Sensors Data Sheet, GS22: Sulfur Dioxide Sensor, Issue 5.1, Capteur Sensors U.K., 1999. [41] FIS Inc. Data Sheet, Standard Module for Ozone SDM-03-05 and-06, Aug. 2002, FIS Inc., Osaka, Japan. [42] Analog Devices Data Sheet, The ADuC812 MicroConverter Multichannel 12-bit ADC with Embedded FLASH MCU, REV.B Analog Devices, Inc. Norwood, 2001.

[43] S. Muller, Upgrading and Repairing PCs,15th Anniversary ed. QUE Corporation, Pearson Education, 2004, pp. 971974. [44] IST, Gas sensor calibration, International Sensor Technology, CA, USA, ch. 11, pp. 161173, Chapter. [45] IEEE Standard for Data Delivery and Logical Channels for IEEE 1284 Interfaces, 2000, Page(s): i-51.

Nihal Kularatna (SM98) received the B.Sc.Eng. (Hon.) degree from the University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 1976. After ten years of employment in the aviation and telecommunications industries, he joined the Arthur C. Clarke institute for Modern Technologies, Sri Lanka, as an R&D Engineer in 1985. He reached the principal research engineer status in 1990 and was appointed the Director/CEO of the institution in 2000. He was a consultant for two U.S. companies and to many Sri Lankan organizations. From 2002 to 2005, he was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Auckland, New Zealand and he is currently with the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. He is on the Expert Reviewer Panel of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST), New Zealand. He has authored six books including Volumes 10 and 11 of the Electrical Measurement Series books for the IEE (London). His most recent book is titled Electronic Circuit Design-From Concept to Implementation (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2008). He has contributed over 60 papers to and was the principal author of the McGraw Hill (Datapro) report Sri Lanka TelecomsAn Industry and Market Analysis (1997). He is currently active in research in transient propagation and power conditioning area in power electronics, and smart sensor systems. Mr. Kularatna is a Fellow of the IET (London), a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (Sri Lanka), and a Member of The Institution of Professional Engineers, New Zealand. During his career in Sri Lanka he was a winner of Presidential Awards for Inventions (1995), the Most Outstanding Citizens Awards in 1999 (Lions Club), and a TOYP Award for academic accomplishment (Jaycees) in 1993.

B. H. Sudantha (M05) graduated from the University of Sri Jayawardanepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka, in 1994 and received the the M.Phil. degree from the University of Sri Jayawardanepura in 2005. He is a Senior Lecturer with the Department of Physics, University of Sri Jayawardanepura. His research interests are in embedded systems, semiconductor sensor applications, and instrumentation systems.