Wireless Communications for Smart Dust

The goal of this research is to design a wireless communication system for sending and receiving data from distributed sensor networks, or Smart Dust systems. The devices for communication on the dust motes are subject to size and power constraints, and are required to communicate over several hundred meters at a minimum data rate of 1 kbps. Optical links with active and passive transmitters and RF links are considered. A detailed analysis of the link from a passive transmitter, or corner-cube retroreflector (CCR), on the dust mote to an imaging system, either CMOS or CCD, shows the feasibility of this link. The technique used for modeling and analyzing the performance of imperfect CCRs is discussed, and some results from this analysis are presented. The design of the imaging system for high data rate reception and optimized performance is investigated. Factors governing the choice of an appropriate communication protocol are discussed. Electronics Research Laboratory Memorandum Number M98/2