Augmenting WSNs with Interoperable 802.15.4 Sensor Tags

The sensing capabilities of most sensor networks are fixed at the time of deployment. Adding new sensing capabilities to such networks is a costly and cumbersome process. We present Passive Sensor Tags, battery-free sensing devices that could be used to extend the sensing capabilities of an existing network. Sensor tags feature our new 802.15.4 receiver design which is suitable for micro-power operation, making battery-free tags possible. Because our tags can both transmit and receive 802.15.4 frames there is no need for any modification to the deployed hardware. We present preliminary measurements of transmission and reception range.