From Simple to Smart:The Development of Sensor Network

Sensor networks have come a long way since the first point-to-point analog system.Rapid development of industrial applications imposes more challenges on traditional sensors and sensor networks.And World Wide Web browsers and object-oriented programming techniques are also helping shaping the next generation of sensor networks.As a trend,smart sensor networks are getting more attention in industrial areas for the values they can bring into us.The IEEE 1451 family of smart sensor interface standards tends to resolve the issues and problems associated with the proliferation and the heterogeneity of sensor networks.The evolution and current state of the art of sensor networks is captured in this article,where the characteristics of their generations are discussed under the networking technologies.It is also pointed out that the challenges sensor networks will face and intends of this field.

Sensor networks have come a long way since the first point-to-point analog system. Rapid development of industrial applications imposes more challenges on traditional sensors and sensor networks. And World Wide Web browsers and object-oriented programming techniques are also helping shaping the next generation of sensor networks. As a trend, smart sensor networks arc getting more attention in industrial areas for the values they can bring into us. The IEEE 1451 family of smart sensor interface standards tends to resolve the issues and problems associated with the proliferation and the heterogeneity of sensor networks. The evolution and current state of the art of sensor networks is captured in this article, where the characteristics of their generations are discussed under the networking technologies. It is also pointed out that the challenges sensor networks will face and intends of this field.