Towards a Wireless Sensor Network Platform for the Internet of Things

This paper describes a WSN platform architecture uniquely designed and implemented for the Internet of Things (IoTs). The paper elaborates on all the architectural design decisions and challenges across the three major divisions of the platform, that is, the middleware, hardware, and network layer. The result of this research is a unique WSN platform, Sprouts, which is rugged, cost effective, versatile, open source, and multi-standard WSN platform that offers a step forward towards interoperable WSN platforms for the IoTs. Sprouts' architecture leverages state of the art technologies in hardware and network standards and builds upon our module-oriented DREAMS middleware architecture. Sprouts presents a much needed new approach that is different than the de-facto MSP430/AVR and Zigbee-based WSNs, and we discusses the reasons behind the necessary changes to meet the needs of IoT. Sprouts was tested in the harsh industrial environment of the Oil-Sands and showcased at the Ontario Centre of Excellence (OCE) Discovery of 2011.