WSNs & the future of the deterministic Internet

Bernard Cole

June 13, 2011

Bernard Cole

According to recent studies the wireless sensor networking chip market grew by 300% in 2010 and is doubling yet again this year. More important for embedded systems developers, wireless-enabled sensor spending grew by 80% in 2010. This increased interest in embedded wireless connectivity is also reflected in the 2011 Embedded Market Study.

But with great opportunities come great challenges. In Ron Wilson’s recent column on wireless networks he pointed to the serious problem of wireless security, especially as more of these networks use or interface to the wider Internet via the IPv6 protocol. In “Sensor Fusion brings situational awareness to health devices,” Supreet Oberoi points out another serious problem: how do you collect, organize and respond to the information you are getting from the wireless sensors?

As some of the design articles in a recent Embedded.com Tech Focus newsletter elaborate, data-centric networking methods in the form of the Data Distribution Service and the Java Messaging protocol will go a long way toward solving the data management problem.

Then there is the problem of real time and deterministic performance over wireless sensor networks, given the fact that the IPv6 protocol many of these devices will connect to is still asynchronous, with no real global clocking mechanism. Specifications such as IEEE 1588 have emerged to deal with this but adoption is moving happening slowly. To fill in the gap, wireless network-specific protocols such as WirelessHART, 6LowWPAN, and AODV have been proposed.

Then there's the  new IPv6 protocol  which makes available unique URLs that are counted in the billions of billions of billions. Even if every human on the planet had his or her own URL address, the number of URLs still available is essentially infinite, raising the prospect that almost every embedded device in the world will have its own URL. Will sensors with 8- or 16-bit MCUs be up to this challenge, or will 32-bit MCUs dominate?

These are questions that I think need to be addressed and I look forward to hearing from you with your ideas and contributions.

Embedded.com Site Editor Bernard Cole is also site leader of iApplianceweb and a partner in the TechRite Associates editorial services consultancy. He welcomes your feedback. Call him at 602-288-7257 or send an email to bccole@acm.org.