A building block approach to sensornet systems

Abstract

We present a building block approach to hardware platform design based on a decade of collective experience in this area, arriving at an architecture in which general-purpose modules that require expertise to de sign and incorporate commonly-used functionality are integrated with application-specific carriers that satisfy the unique sensing, power supply, and mechanical constraints of an application. Of course, modules are widespread, but our focus is far less on the performance of any individual module and far more on an overall architecture that supports the prototype, pilot, and production stages of design, and preserves the artifacts and learnings accumulated along the way.