Reconfigurable analog signal processing for wireless sensor networks

The limited power budgets of sensor networks necessitate in-network pre-processing to reduce communication overhead. The low power consumption of analog signal processing (ASP) is well-suited for this task. However, adoption of ASP is restrained by the longer design time relative to reconfigurable/reprogrammable digital processing. Our solution is to enable ASP reconfiguration through the use of a field-programmable analog array (FPAA), which allows wireless sensor network developers to rapidly prototype and test ASP designs. In this paper, we present an FPAA designed for use in wireless sensor networks, and we describe its incorporation and use within a sensor node.