A Two-Tiered Architecture of Wireless Sensor Network Using Multitier Protocols for Structural Health Monitoring

The design of wireless sensor network for structural health monitoring systems requires high sampling rate, real-time communication, low-energy consumption, particularly in large-scale networks. However, some commonly available architecture and protocols are not fully suitable for this special application. In this paper, the requirements of wireless sensor network for structural health monitoring application is studied and a two-tiered architecture network where is an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network on top of an IEEE 802.15.4 structure area network is proposed as a solution. OPNET Modeler is applied to analyze the performance of the network, and the simulation results show that the two-tiered architecture network provides more reliable services with reduced end-to-end delays and lower energy consumption in the underlying sensor network.