Energy Measurements and Evaluations on High Data Rate and Ultra Low Power WSN Node

Due to reliance on batteries, energy consumption has always been of significant concern for sensor node networks. While many energy efficient protocols and energy-aware application scenarios have been proposed in recent years, most are based on unrealistic theoretical model analyses or simple simulations due to the lack of real-world energy measurement tools, which leads to erroneous energy consumption prediction. Therefore, the energy source of sensor networks may be exhausted before completion of the required task. This paper presents our experimental platform named iWEEP_HW, which consists of Multichannel Energy Measurement Device (MEMD), Energy Data Management Software Platform (EDMSP) and a Testbed node. By using MEMD and EDMSP, real-world measurements and corresponding analyses are provided based on our high data-rate and ultra low-power testbed iHop Node. Such measurements, as well as the measurement protocol, could be valuable for other researchers focusing on energy efficiency in WSNs, and the provided measurements can also be used as a simulated energy model.