Wireless integrated network sensors: toward low-cost and robust self-organizing security networks

A very important benefit of continuing advances in CMOS IC technology is the ability to construct a wide variety of micro electrical mechanical systems (MEMS), including sensors and RF components. These building blocks enable the fabrication of complete systems in a low-cost module, which include sensing, signal processing, and wireless communications. Together with innovative and focused network design techniques that will make possible simple deployment and sustained low- power operation, the small size and cost can be enabling for a very large number of law enforcement and security applications, including remote reconnaissance and security zones ranging from persons to borders. We outline how the application can be exploited in the network design to enable sustained low-power operation. In particular, extensive information processing at nodes, hierarchical decision-making, and energy conserving routing and network topology management methods will be employed in the networks under development.