A Novel Design of Data-Driven Architecture for Remote Monitoring and Remote Control of Sensors over a Wireless Sensor Network and the Internet

Abstract

This study revealed a novel design with an asynchronous concept to provide remote monitoring and remote control functionalities for sensors in wireless sensor network (WSN) via the Internet. The architecture includes two independent parts: data communication between the user interface (UI) and the database, and data communication between the sensor network and the database. Asynchronous interoperation of these two parts was introduced while transmitting bio-signal data or command messages between them. Users were not allowed to control the sensors through direct connection to the sensors. Conversely, users could only use the pre-defined Web service to update the sensor profile built in the database. A sensor profile built in the database collected all sensors' information and all users' command messages. The sensors could be triggered to start the action by a data-update event from the database. Moreover, for the sake of improving user experience, a Web-based UI was implemented using scalable vector graphics (SVG) and Ajax technologies. All operations by users were conducted through the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) standard method. The cross-platform capability testing showed that this architecture could be used in different browsers and in different operation systems. It also indicated the system could be used via a browser and be easily deployed. The proposed architecture is suitable for any sensor network system that needs to monitor and control data transmission.