Building a sensor network with PSoC

Sensor networks have found widespread use in a variety of applications such as structure monitoring, environment monitoring, etc... Commercially available sensor nodes (that integrate sensors, micro processor/controller, memory and peripherals) are often used to design and deploy sensor networks. In this paper, authors describe a sensor network built using PSoC (Programmable System-on-Chip) from Cypress Semiconductor. The advantage of PSoC is that it integrates analog, digital and controller components (all required to process sensor data) on a single chip, thus resulting in a smaller footprint for sensor nodes. Communication with other nodes is achieved through CyFi low power RF module operating in the 2.4GHz ISM band. Operation of the network has been tested by implementing the SPIN (Sensor Protocol for Information via Negotiation), a well-known data-centric protocol for sensor networks.