Wireless Sensor Network Renewable Energy Source Life Estimation

Sensor applications are gaining popularity in health applications particularly in environmental monitoring and patient monitoring. Some applications include monitoring of C02 concentration in home environment, pulse monitoring for in-house patients, and monitoring of medicine distribution in hospitals. Sensors can be deployed in the target environment or in some cases, worn by the monitored patient. Data from these deployed sensor are then stored in a database for future analysis by medical professionals. Reliability and accuracy of data is considered for medical application. This paper presents a simple model for renewable energy source in the deployed sensors. Using solar energy model concepts and battery mechanism, we stochastically tried to model the behavior of rechargeable energy sources used for wireless sensor networks. This model can then be used as cost function for providing efficient routing and good quality of service.