Abstract
Wireless sensor network (WSN) is one of the popular upcoming multidisciplinary technologies embracing the IT industry. With embedded sensing, computing, communications and controlling capabilities, WSN has a potential to solve complex and distributed measurement and control problems that are difficult, impractical or cost-prohibitive to solve with wired sensor networks. Over the past decade, research on WSN has matured to the extent that it is now feasible to deploy them to solve practical field problems in areas like environmental monitoring, precision agriculture and horticulture, transportation and traffic management, patient care and hospital management, disaster mitigation and management, and so on. As a support for accessing and analyzing application specific WSN data, GUSNI (graphical user sensor network interface) a VI based tool, has been designed and developed, and is discussed in this paper along with results. With an effective, logically and esthetically designed front panel, this software seamlessly integrates with Crossbow WSN. It collects, analyzes, manipulates and displays sensor based data from individual nodes. It also provides additional functions of online data logging, historical trend viewing, statistical analysis, battery-state indication and network status monitoring. Its unique feature of providing connectivity to heterogeneous mixed node network (where nodes with different sensing modalities are deployed) enhances its applicability in situations where multiple parameters are monitored by different types of nodes. This well designed network coordinator and information display module is an effective API that provides wireless network communication abstraction to higher level application VI. Portable to any present day Window- based computing system, it is easy to understand and operate this tool. Being modular in design, its functionality can easily be expanded or modified in future to make it more versatile or application oriented.