Bilal Abid Butt, CSE-09, Reg.No.

100201004
1: Wireless sensor network:-
It may consists of different type of sensors like temperature, barometric pressure, wind speed and
direction, presence of different gases and many other depending on the need for a particular application
communicating with each other and then to a central location for the further analysis of the data
collected. The communication between the sensors and the base station can be bidirectional. Each
sensor with its transmitter or transceiver is called a node. It also has a battery pack included or may be
with solar panels to enable it to work independently and carrying on the communication with other
nodes even for the days.
2: Application of WSN:-
There are a lot of applications of WSN like home security and automation, industrial process monitoring,
natural disaster management like volcano eruption and weather forecasting. But the one I will like to
work on; is the environment control in chemical or any other industry/factory like this, where
temperature, humidity, CO2 level and atmospheric pressure need to be continuously monitored. To save
the premise from bulky wirings wireless sensor network can be implemented communication with each
other and carrying the data to the central location/computer from where control commands can be
issued by the intelligent computer algorithms.
3. a: Developing the above application:-
Nodes, as explained in Q1, will be implemented and installed in different location of the premise and the
control will be established in the factorys control room on a computer. Computer application will be
developed in C#, LABVIEW or MATLAB to process the incoming data from the sensors and making a
Graphical user interface where an end user can easily interpret the incoming data and control different
process like if he/she has to raise the temperature or lower/raise the humidity through
humidifier/dehumidifier or algorithms can be developed in computer to do this task through artificial
intelligence automatically.
3. b: ZigBee or Z-Wave for the above application:-
The ZigBee and Z-Wave short-range wireless technologies are used for remote monitoring and control.
However, their specifications and applications are different. Both technologies are ideal for home-area
networks.
ZigBee and Z-Wave target the same general applications. Of the two, ZigBee is by far the more versatile
since it can be configured for virtually any short-range wireless task. Profiles are readily available to
minimize development time for common applications. On the other hand the protocol is far more
complex, resulting in longer development times. Z-Wave uses a far simpler protocol, so development
can be faster and simpler.
I would like to go for the ZigBee for the above application for the following reasons.
Z-wave protocol is not open:-
The Z-Wave protocol is not open, and can be provided only under licensing with Sigma Designs and can
only run on their silicon receivers. The Z-Wave devices will interoperate well with similar Z-Wave
devices.
Larger Antenna:-
Due to the use of the Sub-1GHz range for Z-Wave, there is a need for a larger antenna. Usually 2.5 times
larger. As we all want to have smaller products, it actually limits the range advantage of the Sub-1GHz
technology.
Nodes limitation:-
The number of nodes you may support with a single Z-Wave product is limited to 232 (theoretically),
however practical use cases will support a 10 nodes network. The number of nodes you may support
with a single ZigBee network is 65,000 (theoretically), however practical cases support 500 nodes
network.
Availability:-
ZigBee chipsets are developed and manufactured by multiple silicon vendors including Texas
Instruments, Atmel, Silcon Labs, Freescale, STMicroelectronics and more. Whereas, Z-Wave products are
only manufactured and sold by Sigma Designs.
Open Source Software:-
Arduino provides free libraries to communicate and configure ZigBee devices and hundreds of code
examples are freely available.