DASH7 Mode 2: A Promising Perspective for Wireless Agriculture

In search of robust wireless standardized solutions for the harsh agricultural environment, the 433 MHz based DASH7 Mode 2 technology is proposed as the enabler for a new perspective of the wireless sensor networks in Agriculture. In particular, DASH7 foundation background and its technical characteristics are reported. A comparison between DASH7 and its main competitive technologies such as the ZigBee, the Low Energy Bluetooth, and the WiFi is quoted as well. DASH7 advantages for the wireless Agriculture are classified according to environment, systems development, systems deployment, cost, integration and reliability. Subsequently, the development tools ecosystem as well as the typical architecture of a DASH7-based wireless sensor node has been presented. A systems architecture focusing on DASH7 inherent ability for different wireless systems domains unification in Agriculture is proposed. Finally, as a proof of concept, a DASH7-based WSN node implemented to host applications such as IEEE 1457 smart transducers interface and radio frequency identification is presented.