Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) mainly deal with scalar data such as temperature, humidity, and light which are very suitable for low rate and low power IEEE 802.15 based networking technology. The commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) CMOS camera has fostered researchers to push WSN a step further. The unique properties of multimedia data delivery pose fresh challenges for resource constrained sensor networks. Transmitting raw data is very costly while limited processing power prevents sophisticated multimedia processing at the sensor nodes. Wireless sensor networks offer an attractive choice for low cost solutions for transmitting data wirelessly to a database to be evaluated. Wireless networks of visual sensors have recently emerged as a new type of sensor-based intelligence system. The goal of the visual sensor network is to provide a user with visual information from an arbitrary viewpoint within the monitored field. Wireless networks in combination with image sensors open up a multitude of previously unthinkable sensing applications. In an on-going project, we are designing and implementing a sensor node with a camera which would be capable of acquiring still images, transfer the data onto a personal computer through wireless communication, and store the image on a personal computer. This paper explains the process of capturing the raw image data with a camera sensor and the interfacing of the camera with the Overo Air computer-on-module (COM). Camera visibility and resolution will also be explained in this paper along with the procedure taken to configure the sensor node.