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International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 1 (2016) pp 33-39
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
33
Development of adaptive and customizable Base Station system
in Wireless Sensor Network
Neeraj Bokde
Research Scholar, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering
Visvesvaraya National institute of Technology, Nagpur, India.
E-mail: neerajdhanraj@gmail.com
G. L. Bodhe
Sr. Principal Scientist, Analytical Instrumentation Division,
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, India.
E-mail: gl_bodhe@neeri.res.in
Naresh Bokade
Sr. Technical Officer, Analytical Instrumentation Division,
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur, India
E-mail: nn_bokade@neeri.res.in
Kishore D. Kulat
Professor, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering
Visvesvaraya National institute of Technology, Nagpur, India
E-mail: kdkulat@ece.vnit.ac.in
Abstract
This paper presents a development of dynamic base station for
Wireless sensor network application, which highly capable to
adapt itself for any other application in WSN. The proposed base
station system has more memory, higher processing and
communication capabilities. This system is able to query sensor
data, process them, store them and deliver that data to user's cell
phone, instantly. The base station system is built around ARM11
architecture microcontroller with Windows Embedded CE 6.0, so
that it could possess good processing power, reliability, user
friendly GUI and security. For communication purpose,
IEEE802.15.4 based ZigBee RF module and GSM modem are
used. The data received by base station is processed and stored in
memory. The application of Base station is dynamic and
customizable. User can change it easily as per the experimental or
research requirements.
Keywords: Wireless Sensor Network, Sensors, Base station,
Embedded System, System architecture.
Introduction
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have attracted attention of
researchers and industries in recent years because of its reliability,
easiness, no wiring constraints, easy maintenance, reduced cost,
better performance [1]. Now a days, WSN is rigorously used in
various applications like environmental monitoring [2], precision
agriculture [3], military applications [4], ubiquitous computing
[5], etc. While doing research on WSN, generally it is focussed on
data routing algorithms [6][7][8], energy conservation
algorithms[9][10], optimization of nodes and their positioning
[11] and many more. But apart from this, very few researchers are
working over development of high end, highly capable and user
friendly base station which can easily access and control the
whole WSN efficiently.
This paper explains the dynamic base station we have
designed. It is designed with ARM11 microcontroller with
Windows Embedded CE 6.0 operating system. We tried to
make it more functional such that it possesses high
processing and communication capabilities with large
memory storage It is an hand alone embedded system, which
replaces the user computer and server as used in other WSN
applications. For communication purpose ZigBee RF module
and GSM modem are used.
The architecture of base station is designed such that, the
base station can be customized according the changes in the
application. Finally, the whole data received from nodes is
processed and stored in memory efficiently.
Need of a Dynamic Base Station
While monitoring environment parameters, large number of
nodes spread across a wide area. The number of nodes may
be in the range of few hundreds to thousands. These nodes
usually possesses low processing power and low memory.
However to access the data sensed by nodes, a base station is
necessary. A base station is a device which possesses higher
memory, better communication capabilities and higher
processing capacity. If any of node is used as Base Station, it
may fail because of limitations of normal nodes. Hence, it
might be impossible, if one of general sensor devices become
a base station which could manage sensor networks and
communication with other network technologies. Hence, base
station needs to have enough hardware abilities, strong
system and user friendly graphical user interface (GUI), such
that capabilities of Wireless sensor networks can be enhanced
[17].
International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 1 (2016) pp 33-39
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
34
Article [12] explained about Industrial graded Base station, which
is built on AT91SAM9XE512 controller. Though this base station
possesses enough ways of communications with nodes, it seems,
it is having limited capabilities because of lack of an Embedded
Operating System and high end GUI for users. Also, far remote
user did not get any information about the sensor networks.
In the proposed design of Base station, an interactive application
with very user friendly GUI is designed for capability
enhancement of base station. The application is made dynamic,
such that it can be used in any type of WSN applications. Base
station is also able to provide sensor data to remote user, through
GSM message.
Hardware System Design
The Base Station is designed on Witech OK6410-B-B
Development Board, which is a ARM11 microcontroller platform
which performs interactive data communication by means of
ZigBee and GSM wireless transmission technology. In hardware
system design, the interfacing between ARM processing unit with
ZigBee RF module and GSM modem as shown in Figure 1.
A. Witech OK6410-B-B Development Board
For base station development, OK6410-B hardware platform is
chosen, which is shown in figure 1. In embedded applications and
high end products, ARM11 architecture finds valuable position.
The development of microelectronics is one of the reason
behind it.
The Witech OK6410-B-B Development Board is based on
the Samsung ARM11 microcontroller S3C6410 (667MHz),
with the integrated useful interfaces such as TV-out,
CAMERA, USB, SD, LCD, Ethernet, and etc., makes the
OK6410-B Development Board a powerful device for
developing and implementing all kinds of embedded
products. The OK6410-B Development Board is the single
board version of OK6410, designed in conformity with CE
standard with full consideration to high speed signal
competence. OK6410-B is compatible for various operating
systems like Windows CE6.0, Embedded Linux-2.6, Uc/OS-
II and Android 2.1.[13]
B. ZigBee RF module
A ZigBee module with CC2420 chip is used for
communication purpose between base station and the nodes
in WSN. It is a 2.2 GHz IEEE 802.15.4 compliant and also a
low power, short range RF transceiver. ZigBee module is
able to transmit data over long distances by passing data
through intermediate devices to reach more nodes. Though
this module is low power consuming, it can limit the
transmission distance depending on power output and
environmental characteristics [14].
Figure 1: Hardware implementation of Base Station
C. GSM/GPRS module
A GSM/GPRS Modem with USB interface, which allows to
connect with PC or any USB supporting interface is used to
empower Base Station with high range and reliable
communication. Once connected, it will create a virtual serial port
for communication. The GSM/GPRS Modem is having internal
TCP/IP stack to enable you to connect with internet via GPRS. It
is suitable for SMS, Voice as well as DATA transfer applications.
While developing Base Station, the GSM modem is connected to
the OK6410 development board through USB port. TTL to USB
converter is used to connect the GSM modem toTTL Serial port.
D. Software Platforms, Tools and Operating System
In Base Station, software part is designed in C# language. C#
is simple, powerful, type-safe, and object-oriented language.
The continuous innovations in C# language enable rapid
application development[16]. Also, it retains the
expressiveness of C-style languages. While developing Base
Station applications, Windows Embedded CE 6.0 operating
system and Visual Studio with .NET Framework is used.
i. Windows Embedded CE 6.0
Windows Embedded CE 6.0 (WinCE) is an open 32 bit
embedded operating system developed by Microsoft. It was
International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 1 (2016) pp 33-39
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
35
designed only for embedded system applications. Windows CE is
a distinctly different operating system and kernel, rather than a
trimmed-down version of desktop Windows. Unlike the previous
versions, the platform builder for Windows Embedded CE6.0 is
no longer independent program but a plug-in in the Visual Studio
2005. That is to say, the Visual Studio 2005 is now the
development environment for Windows Embedded CE 6.0.
ii. Visual Studio and .NET Framework
While choosing a programming language and platform for the
development of the base station, various demands for such
implementation are to be considered. These demands arise from
the behaviour of WSN, the base station’s type and our
requirements. It may contain demands like application to be able
to communicate with the gateway node through a serial port,
store gathered values in a database, develop a graphical user
interface (GUI) and much more. Visual Studio is a framework
which allows to meet these demands easily. It contains a set of
tools for developing GUI application, supports multithreading.
E. Implementation of Base Station
The base station implementation includes following subsections.
i. Hardware Implementation
The aim of the research is to design a dynamic base station for
wireless sensor network, which will be ported on Development
board. Figure 1 shows the experimental setup for the project.
The base station is the combination of the various hardware,
which includes Witech OK6410-B-B Development board, USB
ZigBee RF module and USB GSM Modem. Windows Embedded
CE 6.0 OS is installed on Witech OK6410-B-B Development
board. Also, the base station application is installed on it. The
base station possesses touch screen interface TFT LCD display.
The inbuilt Real Time Clock (RTC) in development board is
used for real time processing and handling of base station.
The USB ZigBee is used to establish the wireless network
between base station and nodes. Whereas the USB GSM
modem is used to share data with the remote users. The
Witech OK6410-B-B Development board consists of only
one USB On-The-Go connector. Hence to connect two USB
devices, i.e. GSM modem and ZigBee both, a USB hub is
used. For the sake of USB interfacing as On-The-Go device,
the suitable driver is needed to install on the development
board.
ii. Software Implementation
In software point of view, the aim of the project is to create
an application for Base Station, which is having various
functions necessary for wireless sensor networks. The base
station application is developed in Visual Studio using C#
.NET considering ARM11 Development board as a hardware
platform. Figure 2 shows the front end of the base station
application installed on the development board.
The application front end GUI contains various user
controlled functions, text displays and menus. Few of these
menus as discussed:
1. Date Selector: It enables user to select date, on which the
base station should start working.
2. Current time: This text box displays the current date and
time. This date and time is chosen from the Real time clock
(RTC) available on the OK6410 Development board.
Figure 2: Front End of Base Station application
International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 1 (2016) pp 33-39
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
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3. Set Date/Set Period menu: Set Date menu is used to set the date
selected from date selector. Once date is set, the Set Date menu
will be changed to Set Period menu and two selection boxes pop
up as shown in Figure 3, which represents Hour and Minutes
selection boxes.
Figure 3: Set Date/Set Period menu
4. Scheduled time: Once Hour and Minute are selected, and Set
Period menu is pressed, the scheduled time is updated. This
scheduled time represents the future time at which base station
initiates itself. The scheduled time is determined by adding
current time with period entered by user.
5. Setting: The Setting menu is further subdivided into three sub
menus as:
a) Change Sensors: After the network is being established by
base station, it receives the data from all the nodes in specific
string format, which includes the two digit initials for the sensors
and data related to specific sensors with proper precision. But,
being a customizable application, the user should be facilitated to
change the sensors and its corresponding data format. When user
clicks on “Setting > Change Sensors” menu, a new window will
pop up, where user have to set the number of sensors to be
entertained in application as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Change Sensor menu
As per entered value of number of sensors, the user have to fill
the relative data for the same, like name of sensor, two digit
initials, X and Y shown in Figure 5. Where, X represents the
precision digit numbers to be used before decimal point, whereas
Y represents the post decimal digits.
Figure 5: Change Sensor menu with sensor information
Once the data shown in Figure 5 is filled, the packet string is
now set to new one as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: Pop-up indicating expected packet string
b) Current time Samples: Once the current time and
scheduled time is matched, the base station will establish the
wireless sensors network and proceed as per routine and
collects data from the nodes present in network. But, suppose
the user wants to collect sensor samples at the current/present
time, the user can start base station routine by pressing
“Setting > Current time Samples” menu as shown in Figure
7.
Figure 7: Setting menu
c) Select Contact Number: The application also provides
facility to connect GSM Modem to the base station, which
will be used to route the relevant data to the user, whenever
base station receives the data from nodes. As GSM modem is
used, it is also needed to mention the 10 digit SIM number,
where the data is to be sent. Figure 8 shows, how to set the
contact number in the application.
Figure 8: Set Contact menu
6. Expected Packet String: This text box displays the String
related to sensors and their corresponding reading in specific
format. The expected packet string is also get updated as the
sensors and its corresponding precision is changed by user.
International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 1 (2016) pp 33-39
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
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7. Base station information text box: This text box displays the
information about the internal processes happening in base station
application such as information of nodes present in network and
its relevant data. As time passes, this text box gets updated
according to the status of base station.
8. On board output display: This sheet displays the output
information of the nodes present in the network as shown in
Figure 9. This sheet includes information about the node
identifier, MAC id, sensors and time stamp. This table gets
updated every time as base station receives data from nodes
present in network.
Figure 9: Base Station Framework
Apart from this, user’s smart device, this can be a smart phone,
tab or Cell phone is also a part of the system. User’s smart device
is always updated by base station through GSM. Base station
regularly sends the processed data through SMS on SIM number
entered by the user. After experimental setup is established and
various parameters are being set, the application starts System and
Communication Check. The application checks whether all
hardware devices including ZigBee, GSM modem,
microcontroller, etc are working properly or not. If it finds any
problem or error in any part of system, it shows a message
regarding the same. On successful completion of System and
Communication check, the application follows following steps.
The initialization of the system is done through interfacing all
peripherals to the development board and installing the base
Figure 10: Architectural Workflow diagram of Base station
station application on the same board. Once hardware and
software initialization is done, the onetime configuration has
to be done in the base station application by the user. This
configuration includes setting of COM port, baud rate, etc for
serial port, sensor’s information like sensor name, and its
precision, as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6.
The workflow shown in Figure 10 can be explained with
various steps involved in the functioning of the base station.
Initially, the base station will be in broadcast mode and it will
order all nodes present in network to send their information
i.e. MAC Id, signal strength and Node Identifier. In reply to
this, all nodes present in network will send their information
to Base station. Then few steps are dedicated for hand
shaking between Base station and the individual node. In
these Steps, Base station act in Unicast mode. After hand
shaking and its acknowledgement, Base station command
each node to send their data. In reply to this command, all
nodes send their data towards Base station, one by one.
Actually, this data is nothing but sensor data sensed by
sensors present in each node. This data is assembled in a
specific format, such that after received by Base station, it
can process it in suitable format. The format of the data
received is as shown in Figure 11.
International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 1 (2016) pp 33-39
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
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Figure 11: Data string format sent by a node
In the received data string, each sensor is abbreviated by two
alphabets, as shown in red color text. And next subsequent green
colored numerical value indicates the sensor data sent by sensor
nodes.
Results & Discussions
The main application of the base station is to receive the data
from nodes present in the network and to process the data in
specific format. The received data is processed and displayed in
application, and then saved in various ways as discussed below.
The processed data in base station is forwarded through a SMS to
user’s smart device via GSM modem. This SMS includes number
of active nodes present in the network and their information such
as MAC Id., signal strength, node identifier, etc as shown in
Figure 12.
Figure 12: SMS indicating nodes information
There are few steps dedicated for hand shaking between Base
station and the individual node. In these Steps, Base station
acts in Unicast mode. After hand shaking and its
acknowledgement, Base station command each node to send
their data. In reply to this command, all nodes send their data
towards Base station, one by one. This data includes sensor
data sensed by sensors present in each node. This data is
assembled in a specific format, after received by Base station.
Finally, this data is forwarded as a SMS to user’s smart
device through GSM modem. The message will be displayed
as shown in Figure 13.
The data is also displayed on the screen of base station and
saved in text and excel format at specified location. Figure 14
and Figure 15 shows the data saved in excel and text format
respectively. Where first column represents the node
identifier, which is a name given to the node. Second column
represents the MAC id of the nodes. The last column
represents the time stamp, which is the time at which sensor
node senses the data from various sensors interfaced to it.
And all other in between columns indicates the sensors and
its relevant data received from sensor nodes.
Figure 13: SMS indicating data sensed by nodes
Figure 14: Data stored in Excel format
Figure 15: Data stored in Text format
All the steps discussed above, repeats whenever the current time
matches with the updated scheduled time, which is determined by
the repetition period mentioned by user. Also the user gets
SMS accordingly and data backup is stored and updated in
International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 11, Number 1 (2016) pp 33-39
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com
39
memory in text and excel format. In between, the user can also
update that period suitably, according to the need of application.
Conclusion & Future Work
The implementation section summarizes the work carried out for
the base station in wireless sensor network. We have successfully
designed a hand alone embedded system, which replaces the user
computer and server as used in other WSN applications. The
findings and observations can be used as a guide for future
research projects using this technology.
The outcome of this project is an application for base station in
wireless sensor networks. Now, being a dynamic base station is
ready, it can be easily used in any wireless sensor networks
experiment. This application can also be changed according to
change in project requirement. Also, its GUI can be enhanced,
such that the nodes and its position can be observed from base
station only by using GPS technology.
Till now, the processed data is stored in specific memory location
and also sent it as a SMS through GSM modem. In future, the
data can be directly saved to data server using techniques like
GPRS, cloud computing, etc. Also the various routing protocols
can be tested and studied on the present platform. Research
towards energy optimization can be done.
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