Design and implementation of an embedded IP sensor for distributed networking sensing

A smart and cost-effective sensor based on embedded Internet technology, called IP sensor, is designed, prototyped and experimentally tested in the paper. Each IP sensor designed has a compliant Smart Transducer Interface Module defined in IEEE1451.2 standard, while a cheaper IP module is presented and realized, instead of the more expensive and complex Network Capable Application Processor, to enable the sensor entering into the Internet in an easy and cost-effective way. The whole hardware exclusively based on the commercial off-the-shelf components and the software with a three-layer-architecture are all achieved. Finally, two experiments are conducted both in local area network and in wide area network, and the results experimentally demonstrate that the designed IP sensor is feasible and suitable for some networking sensing applications in Internet, where critical accuracy and real-time requirements are not needed. The design provides a generic solution to remotely monitor and manipulate the field devices over Internet using a web-enabled way, instead of a proprietary solution, for various applications in networking sensing, measuring or monitoring.