Usually, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are installed in large areas to monitor various physical conditions of the environment and forward the collected sensed data to a base station (central node), for instance: gas monitoring, intrusion detection, tracking objects, etc. However, sensor nodes are usually deployed unattended and battery-powered with no external power source. Therefore, WSNs face the challenge of limited energy source available onboard, where packet transmission and sensing functions are the most power consumption factors in WSN. Therefore, to overcome the energy depletion in sensor nodes, it is important to study the energy management issue in WSN. In this chapter, the significance of energy management issue is discussed first, and then the possible energy management strategies for WSN are presented and illustrated.
Part of the book: Emerging Trends in Wireless Sensor Networks