A protocol for processing interfered data in facility sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have recently extended application areas to numerous sectors such as industrial automation, military applications, transportation systems, building management, and environment surveillance. In particular, WSNs provide flexible, reliable, cost-effective solutions to monitor the real-time status of automated manufacturing facilities. A facility-specific WSN for reliable monitoring and efficient management of industrial facilities is called the facility sensor network (FSN). In general, industrial facilities run various electromagnetic devices causing electromagnetic interference (EMI), which disturbs wireless data communication. To obtain accurate and reliable data in such environments, the FSN needs to deal with the EMI by proper deployment of sensor nodes and their validation and fusion. This paper proposes a data processing protocol, called Interfered Sensor Data Processing Protocol (ISDPP) to handle the EMI affecting wireless communication. ISDPP is developed with a data fusion algorithm and an exponentially weighted moving average/fuzzy logic-based error detection method to obtain reliable information from the FSN. To evaluate the performance, experiments in various settings are performed in a test-bed manufacturing facility. The experimental results indicate the interfered data, and outliers can be filtered out even if unexpected interferences occur in the facility. The FSN with the ISDPP can provide efficient real-time monitoring solutions for various industrial applications.