Resource-efficient wireless sensor network architecture based on bio-mimicry of the mammalian auditory system

Abstract

While wireless sensor networks have been successfully deployed on a variety of civil infrastructure systems for structural monitoring, past studies have shown that there is room for improvement in terms of network robustness and overall resource consumption efficiency. The mechanisms employed by biological nervous systems (e.g. signal modulation, communication, and integration) can be used as inspiration for overcoming the performance bottlenecks seen in existing wireless sensor nodes and networks. The mammalian auditory system is of particular interest due to its unique signal decomposition techniques (performed by the cochlea) that enable real-time processing of complex sound signals. In this article, a novel wireless sensor architecture based on the operational principles of cochlea is described. The performance of the proposed sensor is validated on a single-degree-of-freedom structure that is excited by seismic ground motion signals, thus demonstrating its real-time monitoring capabilities while maintaining high data compression rates.

Communication analysis for feedback control of civil infrastructure using cochlea-inspired sensing nodes

“…This results in sig nificant data compression and power savings as well as asynchronous sampling based solely on the input signal. More detail on the hardware design of the node can be found in Peckens et al 11 . Data that is received by the motor neuron is weighted according to the "synaptic strength" between the transmitting and receiving node and then directly utilized in the control law ( Figure 3).…”

The Mathematically Describable ILD Patterns

“…Physiological aspects (i) ILD data were from the functionally specific region "ICc" of the rat's brain; it refers the neural network can be classified data and can be expressed as a group of patterns, (ii) Due to the data collection procedure, the stimuli were systematically varied during the sound localization experiment, that signifies the response characteristic of the system the results also showed systematic variations, (iii) The nerve cell axon is either excitatory or inhibitory that refers the formation of ILD patterns are based on the interactions between excitation and inhibition in ICc, (iv) The brain's energy efficiency mechanisms can be related to the reasons of the nerve cell's stochastic behavior, or a Homeostatic regulation in the brain, or a Gaussian waveforms "i.e. ILD patterns" in this study, and mobile technologies where the energy efficiency is the most important subject matter (such as; to minimizing the energy consumption for mobile devices [44], designing the energy-efficient wireless sensor networks architecture [45] and image transmission [46]). …”

A Bio-inspired Framework for Highly Efficient Structural Health Monitoring and Vibration Analysis

“…The deflections and resonant frequencies of the basilar membrane are correlated and tuned to the external sound wave [23]. Based on the vibrating subsections of this membrane (Figure 3c), the cochlea instantaneously maps out the frequency content of the signal and conveys the perceived stimulus to higher levels of the auditory cortex via neural signals [25]. In detail, the stereocilia and associated inner hair cells (IHCs) of the organ of Corti, which runs on top of the basilar membrane, are responsible for encoding the membrane's motion into electrical spikes ('action potentials') which are transmitted to the CNS [24].…”

“…Schematic representation of the mammalian auditory system: (a) inner ear; (b) cross-section of the cochlea; and (c) uncoiled cochlea indicating the vibrating subsections of the basilar membrane[25].…”