Comparison of WSN and IoT approaches for a real-time monitoring system of meal distribution trolleys: A case study

In this paper, we present a comparison of two approaches based on Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies for implementing a Real-Time Monitoring System of Meal Distribution Trolleys in a hospital. The performance evaluation results show that the IoT implementation yields much lower latencies than the WSN implementation, and the latency does not depend on the location of the trolley or the building size. Also, the IoT approach yields slightly better battery life expectancy than the WSN approach. Thus, the IoT approach seems the best option for real-time surveillance systems installed in meal distribution trolleys.