A pattern for a sensor node

Sensors are widely used in everyday life in household appliances, fire alarms, traffic control systems, battlefields, banks, and museums. Sensors are used either as standalone devices or in networks. Understanding the basic structure of a sensor node is essential to be able to use the sensors in different types of devices and different kinds of environments. Many applications require different types of sensor nodes that communicate with each other to perform a specific function. We present a pattern that describes an abstract view of the architecture of a sensor node. This description would help the application designer to choose from different types of sensor nodes for his application and to integrate it with other functional units. Moreover, this model also helps the designer to reuse, combine, or modify the architecture of a node to suit more complex needs.