Memristor for energy efficient wireless sensor node

Abstract

Wireless sensor nodes (WSN) are used extensively to monitor a wide range of physical and environmental parameters. Data acquisition, processing, storage and transmission are mandatory requirements for different applications. These nodes are expected to generate a correct representation of the sensed quantities, which is then used to make various decisions and control actions. This means that the node requires more memory capabilities to store data either temporary or permanently. The collected data can then be used. As the monitoring device of WSN is increasingly mobile, the need for efficient power management (PM) techniques is becoming crucial in order to extend the lifetime of the battery-powered device. Energy is a critical performance metric in WSNs. Challenges facing WSN designers range from computational energy, energy consumption, energy source, communication channels, etc. A new emerging memory technology like memristor provides a good candidate for WSN PM. Memristor non-volatility features coupled with small size and low energy operation provide a normally-off instant-on mode of operation for the WSN; this will minimize the loss of energy to leakage power. The paper gives an insight about using memristor in a PM scheme at the system level.