Implementing a wireless base station for a sensor network

Using wireless sensor networks for monitoring infrastructure is a new trend in civil engineering. Compared with traditional ways to monitor infrastructure, wireless sensor networks are cheap, safe, and compact. However, there are many available wireless communication techniques and hardware for a wireless sensor network. Therefore, it is an important step to choose the best communication method and hardware to construct a wireless sensor network for a particular infrastructure. The London Underground project, which is described in this thesis as a reference case study, demands real-time data transmission, low-power network, and wireless network communication, and also a hardware/software system to collect, archive and display data from the monitoring activity. We consider the trade-offs in choosing 802.1 lb as a communication method. A web service architecture for data visualization is then described. Finally we discuss the appropriate selection of a computer device to serve as the base station. Thesis Supervisor: Ruaidhri M O'Connor Title: Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Acknowledgements I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents Kyung Eun Song and In Kyung Kang for their love and support and providing me with the best. Great thanks go out to Professor Ruaidhri M. O'Connor for his expertise and support. I would also like to thank Professor George Kocur for his advice and guidance. I would also like to thank Sivaram Cheekiralla for providing invaluable help. Last but not least, I would like to thank Debbie Leavy for her practical and emotional support ever since I knew her first.