A functional taxonomy of wireless sensor network devices

With the availability of cheap computing technology and the standardization of different wireless communication paradigms, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are becoming a reality. This is visible in the increasing amount of research being done in the WSN area, and the growing number of companies offering commercial WSN solutions. In this regard, we realize that there is a need for an unambiguous classification and definition of WSN devices. Such a classification scheme would benefit the WSN research and industrial community. We consider the spectrum of wireless devices ranging from passive RF devices to gateway devices for the classification. The classification scheme is based on functionality of the devices. This scheme is analogous to an object-oriented classification, where an object is classified on the basis of its functionality and is described by its attributes. Attributes of the wireless devices are grouped into five broad categories: communication, sensing, power, memory, and "other features". Each of these are further classified to provide sufficient details that are required for a typical WSN application