Levzhinsky A.S. Distributed sensor networks

The corporate version of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology is actively used in industry today. The Enterprise Internet of Things (EIoT) uses wireless sensor networks and controls to provide enterprises with new ways to control machines and equipment. Wireless sensors, powered by a small battery without being connected to a wired power supply, can be placed in industrial environments in places completely inaccessible to previous generation controls.

EIoT has increased the reliability, security, and interoperability of systems and equipment to meet the most stringent requirements for the implementation of wireless technologies in this area, not only in industry, but also in healthcare, financial services, etc. EIoT addresses the needs of these areas by what specifications and design elements of this new technology are far superior to similar IoT technologies of traditional devices designed for less critical consumer or commercial applications.

EIoT issues

EIoT-enabled sensors and controls can work almost anywhere in an industrial environment, but so far it has been more of a matter of luck as not every industrial equipment is ideal for wireless use. This is because there are two interrelated but seemingly contradictory elements in an IoT deployment:

1. The wireless network of devices itself, which is installed using sensors and controls associated with short-range technology with low power consumption.
2. A network of IoT sensors interacting with other equipment, controllers and parts of the network already at a greater distance.

Rice. 1. Applications far from urban centers and traditional telecommunications services can use energy-efficient communication protocol such as LoRa to organize a global network

It is the impossibility of reliable communication over long distances that is often the most significant obstacle in an industrial environment. This problem has a simple cause: telecommunications, which is carried out over wired cable lines or by using signal transmission through towers. cellular communication, is not always available at industrial equipment locations. In addition, the cost of using cellular services only to deliver several packets of data from sensors in one communication session does not make much sense both from an economic point of view and from purely technical considerations. In addition, quite often there is a problem of power supply of sensors and communication devices, which is very difficult to organize in remote places where the equipment or infrastructure is not powered directly from the industrial network.

Despite the wide coverage of cellular communications in settlements, in some places there is no reliable service for organizing wireless communication. This is a common problem in rural areas and remote locations of industrial equipment, such as isolated oil and gas equipment or pipeline transport, water supply and wastewater systems (Fig. 1), etc. Such sites are also often far from the nearest technical service personnel who checks the proper functioning of the devices. Sometimes it takes an engineer a whole day, or even several, to get to the equipment and inspect it. It is often difficult and easy to find specialists willing to work in such remote areas. Since, due to limited communication coverage, EIoT-enabled sensors and controls are quite rare in remote sites, low-power wide area networks (LPWAN) come to the rescue here.

BLE and LPWAN

The most widely used short-range wireless technology in EIoT systems is Bluetooth Low Energy - BLE (Bluetooth low energy, also known as Bluetooth Smart). The main reason for the high popularity of BLE for EIoT is its energy efficiency, which allows sensors and controls to work for a long time with very low battery consumption. BLE manages sleep cycles, standby, and active cycles. BLE is also widely used due to the strength of its RF signal, which allows this technology to work effectively even in difficult environments with increased levels of high-frequency noise, digital signals from computer equipment, and even in the presence of physical obstacles to the propagation of radio waves. But, as you know, all these factors are familiar to the industrial environment.

In projects for the implementation of EIoT, it is BLE technology that is the basis for organizing short-range communications. Moreover, it can be used both on already operated and on industrial equipment complexes that are still being designed. However, such a network of BLE-enabled devices needs a way to receive instructions and relay data over longer distances. Relying on a traditional telecommunications infrastructure that allows bi-directional Wi-Fi or cellular signals is not possible due to the barrier that limits the application of these sensor and control networks. By combining BLE with the ultra-range and energy efficiency of LoRa technology, companies have been able to deploy EIoT in places where telecommunications infrastructure and power infrastructure are not available, and this, in turn, has expanded the geography of the implementation of the Internet of Things technology.

Rice. 2. Sensors are first connected to the LoRa client and then through the LoRa gateway

The LoRa WAN protocol is often LPWAN because it provides secure bi-directional data transmission and communication with IoT networks over long distances for years without battery replacement. When using LoRa technology, it is possible to send and receive signals at a distance of up to about 16 km, and if necessary, repeaters (repeaters) can increase this distance to hundreds of kilometers. On fig. Figure 2 shows how LoRa works. For IoT applications, LoRa has many advantages precisely because of its economic characteristics and capabilities:

• Since LoRa, like BLE, is an ultra-low power technology, it is able to operate on battery-powered IoT device networks and can provide long battery life without requiring frequent maintenance.
• LoRa nodes are inexpensive and allow companies to reduce the cost of data transmission over cellular systems, as well as eliminate the installation of fiber optic or copper cables. This removes a major financial barrier to linking remotely located sensors and equipment.
• LoRa technology also works well with indoor network devices, including in complex industrial environments.
• LoRa is highly scalable and interoperable by supporting millions of nodes, and can be connected to public and private data networks and bi-directional communication systems.

So, while other LPWAN technologies can only solve the problem of communication range in the implementation of IoT solutions in the long term, LoRa technology offers bidirectional communication, anti-jamming and high information content for this.

LoRa also has a significant drawback - low bandwidth. This makes it unsuitable for applications requiring streaming data. However, this limitation does not prevent its use for a wide range of IoT applications where only small data packets are transmitted from time to time.

Interaction

Rice. 3. RM1xx module from Laird, which includes communication capabilities for LoRa and Bluetooth wireless network protocols

The potential of LoRa is doubled when it is combined with technology like BLE. Together, they provide a set of ultra-low power wireless capabilities for short and long range communications that enhance the capabilities of EIoT networks. For example, the central part of urban areas can be covered with just a few LoRaWAN gateways, which are the basis for BLE sensor networks, which are now independent of traditional telecommunications infrastructures. Thus, the symbiosis of LoRa and BLE removes a number of barriers to the expansion of IoT both in megacities and in small cities that have barriers to the widespread implementation of the Internet of Things. However, the biggest beneficiaries of the combination of LoRA and BLE are wireless sensors, controls and other equipment, which can now be installed without any restrictions literally anywhere (Fig. 3). This is a special merit of BLE. BLE also allows these devices to work together in an integrated, short-range network controlled, for example, from smartphones or tablets, which in this case are used as remote wireless displays. In this bundle, LoRa technology, based on the mobile capabilities of BLE, acts as a kind of radio relay station that can send and receive data over long distances. Moreover, these distances can be increased by simple gateways for signal transmission.

There are already many good examples demonstrating how LoRa and BLE pairing allows EIoT networks to reach a completely different technical level and increase their expansion.

History and scope

One of the first prototypes of the sensor network can be considered the SOSUS system, designed to detect and identify submarines. Technologies of wireless sensor networks began to develop actively relatively recently - in the mid-90s. However, only at the beginning of the 21st century, the development of microelectronics made it possible to produce a fairly cheap element base for such devices. Modern wireless networks are mainly based on the ZigBee standard. A considerable number of industries and market segments (manufacturing, various modes of transport, life support, security) are ready for the implementation of sensor networks, and this number is constantly increasing. The trend is driven by increasing complexity technological processes, the development of production, the expanding needs of individuals in the segments of security, resource control and the use of inventory. With the development of semiconductor technologies, new practical tasks and theoretical problems appear related to the applications of sensor networks in industry, housing and communal services, and households. The use of low-cost wireless sensor control devices opens up new areas for the application of telemetry and control systems, such as:

• Timely detection of possible failures of actuators, to control such parameters as vibration, temperature, pressure, etc.;
• Real-time access control to remote systems of the monitored object;
• Automation of inspection and maintenance of industrial assets;
• Commercial asset management;
• Application as components in energy and resource saving technologies;
• Control of eco-parameters of the environment.

It should be noted that despite the long history of sensor networks, the concept of building a sensor network has not finally taken shape and has not been expressed in certain software and hardware (platform) solutions. The implementation of sensor networks at the current stage largely depends on the specific requirements of the industrial task. The architecture, software and hardware implementation is at the stage of intensive technology formation, which draws the attention of developers in order to search for a technological niche for future manufacturers.

Technology

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) consist of miniature computing devices - motes, equipped with sensors (sensors for temperature, pressure, light, vibration level, location, etc.) and signal transceivers operating in a given radio range. Flexible architecture, reduced installation costs distinguish wireless smart sensor networks from other wireless and wired data transmission interfaces, especially when it comes to a large number of interconnected devices, the sensor network allows you to connect up to 65,000 devices. The constant reduction in the cost of wireless solutions, the increase in their operational parameters make it possible to gradually reorient from wired solutions in systems for collecting telemetry data, remote diagnostics, and information exchange. "Sensory network" is a well-established term today. Sensor Networks), denoting a distributed, self-organizing, fault-tolerant network of individual elements from unattended and requiring no special installation of devices. Each node of the sensor network may contain various sensors for monitoring the external environment, a microcomputer and a radio transceiver. This allows the device to take measurements, independently carry out initial data processing and maintain communication with an external information system.

802.15.4/ZigBee relayed short-range radio technology, known as "Sensor Networks" (eng. WSN - Wireless Sensor Network), is one of the modern directions in the development of self-organizing fault-tolerant distributed systems for monitoring and managing resources and processes. Today, wireless sensor network technology is the only wireless technology that can solve the monitoring and control tasks that are critical to the operation time of sensors. The sensors combined into a wireless sensor network form a territorially distributed self-organizing system for collecting, processing and transmitting information. The main area of ​​application is the control and monitoring of the measured parameters of physical media and objects.

• radio path;
• processor module;
• battery;
• various sensors.

A typical node can be represented by three types of devices:

• Network coordinator (FFD - Fully Function Device);
  • performs global coordination, organization and setting of network parameters;
  • the most complex of the three device types, requiring the most memory and power supply;

• Device with a full set of functions (FFD - Fully Function Device);
  • support for 802.15.4;
  • additional memory and power consumption allows you to act as a network coordinator;
  • support for all types of topologies ("point-to-point", "star", "tree", "mesh network");
  • the ability to act as a network coordinator;
  • the ability to access other devices on the network;
• (RFD - Reduced Function Device);
  • supports a limited set of 802.15.4 features;
  • support for point-to-point, star topologies;
  • does not act as a coordinator;
  • calls the network coordinator and router;

Companies developers

There are different types of companies on the market:

Notes

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "Wireless Sensor Networks" is in other dictionaries:

- (other names: wireless ad hoc networks, wireless dynamic networks) decentralized wireless networks that do not have a permanent structure. Client devices are connected on the fly, forming a network. Each network node tries to forward ... ... Wikipedia

This page is proposed to be renamed to Wireless ad hoc network. Explanation of reasons and discussion on the Wikipedia page: To be renamed / December 1, 2012. Perhaps its current name does not meet the standards of the modern ... ... Wikipedia

Wireless ad hoc networks are decentralized wireless networks that do not have a permanent structure. Client devices are connected on the fly, forming a network. Each node in the network attempts to forward data destined for other nodes. At the same time ... ... Wikipedia

Wireless ad hoc networks are decentralized wireless networks that do not have a permanent structure. Client devices are connected on the fly, forming a network. Each node in the network attempts to forward data destined for other nodes. At the same time ... ... Wikipedia

The architecture of a typical wireless sensor network A wireless sensor network is a distributed, self-organizing network of many sensors (sensors) and actuators, interconnected via a radio channel. Region ... ... Wikipedia

Would you like to improve this article?: Rework the design in accordance with the rules for writing articles. Check the article for grammatical and spelling errors. Correct the article according to ... Wikipedia

Telemetry, telemetry (from other Greek τῆλε “far away” + μέτρεω “I measure”) a set of technologies that allows remote measurements and information collection to be provided to the operator or user, an integral part ... ... Wikipedia

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Maxim Sergievsky

The latest wireless communication technologies and progress in the field of microchip production have made it possible over the past few years to move on to the practical development and implementation of a new class of distributed communication systems - sensor networks.

Wireless sensor networks consist of miniature computing and communication devices - motes ( from English. motes - dust particles), or sensors. A mot is a board that is usually no larger than one cubic inch. The board contains a processor, flash and RAM memory, digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters, an RF transceiver, a power supply, and sensors. Sensors can be very diverse; they are connected via digital and analog connectors. More often than others, temperature, pressure, humidity, light, vibration sensors are used, less often - magnetoelectric, chemical (for example, measuring the content of CO, CO2), sound and some others. The set of sensors used depends on the functions performed by wireless sensor networks. The motor is powered by a small battery. Motes are used only for collecting, pre-processing and transmitting sensory data. Appearance motors produced by various manufacturers is shown in fig. one.

The main functional processing of data collected by motes is carried out at the node, or gateway, which is a fairly powerful computer. But in order to process the data, they must first be received. For this purpose, the node must be equipped with an antenna. But in any case, only motes that are close enough to it are available to the node; in other words, the node does not receive information directly from each mote. The problem of obtaining sensory information collected by motes is solved as follows. Motes can exchange information with each other using transceivers operating in the radio range. This is, firstly, sensory information read from sensors, and secondly, information about the status of devices and the results of the data transfer process. Information is transmitted from one mote to another along the chain, and as a result, the motes closest to the gateway reset all the accumulated information to it. If some of the motes fail, the operation of the sensor network after the reconfiguration should continue. But in this case, naturally, the number of sources of information decreases.

To perform functions, a specialized operating system. Currently, most wireless sensor networks use TinyOS, an operating system developed at the University of Berkeley. TinyOS is open source software; it is available at: www.tinyos.net. TinyOS is an event-driven, real-time operating system designed to work with limited computing resources. This OS allows motes to automatically establish connections with neighbors and form a sensor network of a given topology. The last release of TinyOS 2.0 appeared in 2006.

The most important factor in the operation of wireless sensor networks is the limited capacity of the batteries installed on motos. Please note that batteries are often not replaceable. In this regard, it is necessary to perform only the simplest primary processing on motes, aimed at reducing the amount of transmitted information, and, most importantly, minimizing the number of cycles of receiving and transmitting data. To solve this problem, special communication protocols have been developed, the most famous of which are the protocols of the ZigBee alliance. This alliance (website www.zigbee.org) was created in 2002 specifically to coordinate work in the field of wireless sensor networks. It includes the largest developers of hardware and software tools: Philips, Ember, Samsung, IBM, Motorola, Freescale Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, NEC, LG, OKI and many more (more than 200 members in total). Intel Corporation is not included in the alliance, although it supports its activities.

In principle, to develop a standard, including a protocol stack for wireless sensor networks, ZigBee used the previously developed IEEE 802.15.4 standard, which describes physical layer and the level of access to the environment for wireless data networks over short distances (up to 75 m) with low power consumption, but with a high degree of reliability. Some characteristics of radio data transmission for the IEEE 802.15.4 standard are given in Table. one.

Table 1. Data radio characteristics for IEEE 802.15.4

At the moment, ZigBee has developed the only standard in this area, which is supported by the presence of the production of fully compatible hardware and software products. ZigBee protocols allow devices to sleep b about most of the time, greatly extending battery life.

Obviously, it is not so easy to develop data exchange schemes between hundreds and even thousands of motes. Among other things, it is necessary to take into account the fact that sensor networks operate in unlicensed frequency bands, therefore, in some cases, interference from extraneous radio signal sources may occur. It is also desirable to avoid retransmission of the same data, and in addition, take into account that due to insufficient energy consumption and external influences, motes will fail forever or for some time. In all such cases, communication schemes must be modified. Since one of the most important features of TinyOS is the automatic selection of network organization and data paths, wireless sensor networks are essentially self-configuring.

More often than not, a mote should be able to determine its own location, at least in relation to the other mote to which it will transmit data. That is, first all the motes are identified, and then the routing scheme is already formed. In general, all motes - ZigBee standard devices - are divided into three classes according to the level of complexity. The highest of them - the coordinator - manages the operation of the network, stores data about its topology and serves as a gateway for transmitting data collected by the entire wireless sensor network for further processing. Sensor networks usually use one coordinator. The mote of average complexity is a router, that is, it can receive and transmit data, as well as determine the direction of transmission. And finally, the simplest mote can only transmit data to the nearest router. Thus, it turns out that the ZigBee standard supports a network with a cluster architecture (Fig. 2). The cluster is formed by a router and the simplest motes from which it requests sensory data. Cluster routers relay data to each other, and eventually the data is sent to the coordinator. The coordinator usually has a connection to the IP network, where the data is sent for final processing.

In Russia, developments are also being carried out related to the creation of wireless sensor networks. Thus, the High-Tech Systems company offers its MeshLogic hardware and software platform for building wireless sensor networks (website www.meshlogic.ru). The main difference between this platform and ZigBee is its focus on building peer-to-peer mesh networks (Fig. 3). In such networks, the functionality of each mote is the same. The possibility of self-organization and self-healing of mesh topology networks allows, in the event of failure of some of the motes, to spontaneously form a new network structure. True, in any case, you need a central functional node that receives and processes all data, or a gateway for transmitting data to the node for processing. Spontaneously created networks are often referred to by the Latin term Ad Hoc, which means "for a specific occasion."

In MeshLogic networks, each mote can perform packet relay, that is, in its functions it resembles a ZigBee router. MeshLogic networks are fully self-organizing: no coordinator node is provided. Various devices can be used as RF transceivers in MeshLogic, in particular Cypress WirelessUSB, which, like ZigBee standard devices, operate in the 2.4 ... 2.4835 GHz frequency range. It should be noted that only the lower layers of the protocol stack exist for the MeshLogic platform. It is believed that the upper layers, in particular the network and application, will be created for specific applications. The configurations and main parameters of two MeshLogic motors and one ZigBee standard motor are shown in Table. 2.

Table 2. Main characteristics of motors from different manufacturers

Note that there are no integrated touch sensors on these boards.

We indicate what primarily distinguishes wireless sensor networks from conventional computing (wired and wireless) networks:

• the complete absence of any kind of cables - electrical, communication, etc.;
• the possibility of compact placement or even integration of motes into environmental objects;
• reliability of both individual elements and, more importantly, the entire system as a whole; in some cases, the network can function with only 10-20% of sensors (motes) in good working order;
• no need for personnel for installation and maintenance.

Sensor networks can be used in many application areas. Wireless sensor networks are a promising new technology and all related projects are mostly under development. We indicate the main areas of application of this technology:

• defense and security systems;
• environmental control;
• monitoring of industrial equipment;
• security systems;
• monitoring the state of agricultural land;
• energy management;
• control of ventilation, air conditioning and lighting systems;
• fire alarm;
• inventory control;
• tracking the transportation of goods;
• monitoring of the physiological state of a person;
• personnel control.

From a fairly large number of examples of the use of wireless sensor networks, we single out two. Perhaps the most famous is the deployment of the network aboard a BP oil tanker. There, using a network built on the basis of Intel equipment, the state of the vessel was monitored in order to organize its preventive maintenance. BP has analyzed whether the sensor network can operate on board the ship in the extreme temperatures, high vibration and significant levels of radio frequency interference present in certain areas of the ship. The experiment was successful, the network was reconfigured and restored automatically several times.

An example of another completed pilot project is the deployment of a sensor network at a US Air Force base in Florida. The system has demonstrated good ability to recognize various metal objects, including moving ones. The use of a sensor network made it possible to detect the penetration of people and cars into the controlled area and track their movements. To solve these problems, motors equipped with magnetoelectric and temperature sensors were used. The scope of the project is currently expanding and the wireless sensor network is already being installed on a 10,000x500 m test site. software developed by several American universities.

Introduction

Wireless sensor network- distributed, a set of sensors (sensors) and actuators, interconnected by means of a radio channel. The coverage area of ​​such a network can range from several meters to several kilometers due to the ability to relay messages from one element to another.

The main features of wireless sensor networks are self-organization and adaptability to changes in operating conditions, therefore, minimal costs are required when deploying the network at the facility and during its subsequent maintenance during operation.

Short story

One of the first prototypes of the sensor network can be considered the SOSUS system, designed to detect and identify submarines. In the mid-1990s, wireless sensor network technologies began to actively develop; in the early 2000s, the development of microelectronics made it possible to produce a fairly cheap element base for such devices. Wireless networks of the early 2010s are mainly based on the .

Purpose

The main purpose is not only to exchange data between nodes via a decentralized self-organizing network, but also to collect transmitted information (mainly data) from sensors (temperature, pressure, humidity, radiation levels, acoustic vibrations) to a central node for the purpose of its subsequent analysis or processing.

The demand for wireless sensor networks in the market is also closely related to the concept of intellectualization of such objects as home, office and industrial premises, where an urban person spends up to 90% of his time, as well as the concept of creating cybernetic industries (fully equipped with robots), the primary task of which is to introduce wireless technologies at the APCS level.

Sensor network technology is designed to solve the widest range of industrial monitoring and control tasks and has the following undeniable advantages over other existing wireless and wired systems:

• the ability to install sensors on an existing and operated facility without additional work on laying a wired network;
• low cost a separate control element;
• low cost installation, commissioning and maintenance of the system;
• minimal restrictions on the placement of wireless devices;
• high fault tolerance sensory network as a whole.

Description

The hardware of the wireless nodes and the protocols of network interaction between them are optimized for power consumption to ensure a long service life of the system with autonomous power supplies. Depending on the mode of operation, the lifetime of a node can reach several years.

Each sensor network node usually contains data input/output ports with various sensors control of the environment (or the sensors themselves), a microcontroller and a radio transceiver, as well as an autonomous or external source nutrition. This allows the device to receive measurement results, perform initial data processing, and communicate with an external information system. The microcontroller can be used to implement intelligent distributed data processing. In an intelligent wireless sensor network, devices are able to exchange information at the local level, analyze it and transmit processed information to a certain depth, rather than "raw" data. This can significantly reduce network bandwidth requirements, increase scalability and system life. However, adding "intelligence" to the network requires taking into account the specifics of the applied task, so this approach is usually effective when developing a custom highly specialized system.

In this way key features of sensor networks are:

• the ability of self-organization of the information transmission network and its adaptation to the number of devices;
• the ability to relay messages from one element to another;
• the possibility of having sensors in each element;
• long battery life (1 year or more)

Today, the technology of wireless sensor networks is the only one that can be used to solve monitoring and control tasks that are critical to the requirements for battery life of devices, their reliability, automatic or semi-automatic configuration of each of them, the possibility of simply adding or removing a device from the network, distribution signals through walls and ceilings at a low system cost. And the technology of relayed short-range radio communication, known as "Sensor networks", is one of the modern directions in the development of self-organizing fault-tolerant distributed systems for industrial monitoring and resource and process control.

Almost all spheres of life in the 21st century depend on information and communication technologies (ICT). Data is exchanged not only by people, but also by all kinds of intelligent systems, mobile phones, wearable devices, ATMs, sensors. At least 5 billion devices are already connected to the Internet of Things. The functioning of any large complexes - enterprises of industry, energy, agriculture, shopping centers, museums, offices, residential buildings - is associated with constant monitoring of the situation on their territory. Sensitive sensors in real time monitor the health of the equipment, the organization of the interaction of devices with each other, warn about the need to replace them or about emergencies. With rapidly growing volumes of data, an easy and convenient way to share them between devices and data centers is needed.

Print version:

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs, Wireless Sensor Networks), consisting of wireless sensors and control devices and capable of self-organization using intelligent algorithms, demonstrate large-scale prospects for use in monitoring human health, the state of the environment, the functioning of production and transport systems, accounting for various resources etc. This issue of the newsletter presents technological trends in the field of WSN related to ensuring the continuous operation of wireless sensors and their application in two areas of the modern economy - advanced manufacturing (advanced manufacturing) and smart energy (smart grid).

Self-loading touch devices

For the development of wireless sensor networks, it is important to solve the problem of their power supply. A promising trend is the creation of durable autonomous devices with minimal energy consumption - converted from external sources.

Wireless touch devices can, for example, be powered by radio energy sent to them from a transmitter (like radio frequency identification (RFID) devices or contactless smart cards). This energy is used by the device both for recharging the sensor and for generating a response signal with information about the current state of the controlled object.

Another way is passive conversion of energy from the external environment (energy harvesting): solar (outside the premises in fairly clear weather), thermal energy, mechanical vibration energy (from devices working nearby - assembly machines, conveyors, etc.), vibration energy of the sensor itself (in the case of wearable devices), background radio emissions from surrounding electrical appliances (including Wi-Fi).

Realization of advanced production based on wireless sensor networks

Irrational use of resources and production capacities, production of a large amount of polluting waste, lack of constant monitoring of the state of facilities at enterprises - these and other problems of modern industry stimulate the transition to an advanced manufacturing model. It is characterized by the use of new materials and environmentally friendly technologies (green technologies), as well as the widespread use of ICT and intelligent systems, in particular robotics and wireless sensor networks.

Industrial wireless sensor networks (IBSS, Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks) - the most important factor in the implementation of advanced production. A set of interconnected wireless sensors and information systems, which process data from sensors and interact with controlled objects using control devices. Such an automated system responds to any changes in indicators at the enterprise, notifies personnel about accidents and problem situations, analyzes the efficiency of equipment use, assesses the level of environmental pollution and the volume of waste generated.

"Smart" grids

The global problem of irrational use of electricity is especially relevant for Russia. High costs for electricity generation increase the cost of production, which places a double burden on the end consumer. To improve the efficiency and reliability of energy systems, many countries are moving towards the concept of "smart" energy networks (smart grid).

Such a network manages in real time all generating sources connected to it, main and distribution networks and facilities that consume electricity. To manage the smart grid, wireless sensor networks are used that control the volume of energy production and energy consumption in its different sections. With the help of information systems, the optimal distribution of energy in the network is calculated, forecasts are made for different seasons and periods of the day, energy generation and its delivery are synchronized, and the safety of power lines is monitored. To increase the efficiency of the power grid, its non-critical elements are switched off during the period of reduced activity.

Monitoring of global technological trends is carried out by the Institute for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge of the Higher School of Economics () as part of the Basic Research Program of the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

The following sources were used in preparing the trendletter: Forecast of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation until 2030(prognoz2030.hse.ru), scientific journal materials "Foresight"(foresight-journal.hse.ru), data web of science, Orbit, idc.com, marketsandmarkets.com, wintergreenresearch.com, greentechmedia.com, greenpatrol.ru, etc.