Torsten Braun presented on hardware and software approaches to monitor energy consumption in wireless mesh and sensor networks. He discussed using hardware devices to directly measure current draw and voltage on sensor nodes running different protocols. Braun also described measuring energy usage of wireless interfaces like UMTS and WiFi on mesh network nodes under varying conditions. Finally, he concluded that while specialized hardware provides valuable detailed energy data, integrated hardware/software support is needed for broader energy profiling in mesh and sensor networks.

1. COST IC 0804 Meeting Madrid
Working Group 2: Characterization of
Energy Consumption and Energy Efficiency
On Hardware and Software Approaches to
Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Torsten Braun
Research Group “Communications and Distributed Systems”
Institute of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
Universität Bern
joint work with Markus Anwander and Philipp Hurni
braun@iam.unibe.ch
cds.unibe.ch

2. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Overview
> Hardware- and Software-Based Energy Consumption
Measurements in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)
> Hardware Support for Energy Consumption Measurements
for Hydrology Monitoring with Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs)
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3. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Hardware-Based Energy Measurements
> Implementation of MaxMAC protocol on MSB430 sensor nodes
> Measurement of current draw and voltage using SNMDs
(Sensor Network Management Devices) from KIT
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4. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Current Draw by Different MSB430 Nodes
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5. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Hardware Dependencies
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6. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Simple 3-State-Model
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7. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
3-State-Model with State Transitions
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8. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Estimation Errors
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9. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Improved Sensor Hardware-Based
Energy Consumption Measurements
> RIGOL DM3052
Digital Multimeter can
record 50’000 current
measurements
per second.
> Laboratory Power
Supply VOLTCRAFT
VLP-1303 PRO with
deviation < 2mV
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10. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
WSN Hardware Measurement Setup
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11. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Clear Channel Assessment by
TelosB Sensor Nodes
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12. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Deviation between Multimeter and
Contiki Energy Profiler
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13. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
A4-Mesh: Wireless Mesh Network for
Hydrology Monitoring in the Alps
Sierre
Sion
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14. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
A4 Mesh Node Architecture
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15. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
A4-Mesh Node Power Supply
78Ah/12V battery
Solar charger
90 W solar panels
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16. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Battery Voltage Measurements
by Solar Charger
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17. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
UMTS Current Measurements I
Node without network interfaces
UMTS interface disabled
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18. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
UMTS Current Measurements II
UMTS interface on, but idle
UMTS interface with load
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19. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
WiFi Current Measurements I
Node without network interfaces
WiFi interface disabled
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20. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
WiFi Current Measurements II
WiFi interface on
WiFi AP running
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21. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
WiFi Current Measurements III
WiFi client connected to AP, no traffic
WiFi client connected to AP, with traffic
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22. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Conclusions
> High energy costs by wireless network interfaces (UMTS, WiFi)
> Hardware for energy / battery measurements
— is available and very valuable for studying details and providing
data for software-based measurements and simulation models
(require accurate calibration and modelling)
— can be learned by CS students/researchers
— comes sometimes with high costs and does not scale
> Better integrated (hardware/software) support for energy
consumption profiling in mesh and sensor nodes desired.
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23. Torsten Braun: On Hardware and Software Approaches to Monitor Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks
Thanks for your attention !
> Contact
— braun@iam.unibe.ch
— http://cds.unibe.ch
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