REDUCING ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF TELEMETRIC FARM SYSTEMS

To obtain information on the state of automated control facilities, it is expedient to use the centralized principle of data collection, in which information from multiple sensors is transmitted via wireless communication channels. The sensors are equipped with receiving and transmitting devices that require electrical energy for their power supply. In order to reduce energy consumption, it is proposed to carry out a step-by-step data transfer, in which each element of the telemetry system is both a source of information and a relay information from neighboring elements. The paper shows that with an increase in the number of “receive-transmit” steps, the amount of energy consumed exponentially decreases. Due to the functioning algorithm of the coordinator and the router, the considered system is capable of self-organizing and self-recovering. If any elements of the network fail, as well as in the case of a change in the spatial location of these elements, the system, without an operator’s intervention, determines a new signal transmission path and assigns it to each element through the service channel. In order to increase energy saving and communication efficiency, it is proposed to supplement the sensor connection algorithm with their alternate switching. In this case, at each time point, only one sensor is connected to the information processing point along the shortest path through a limited number of working network elements. To ensure energy savings, the remaining elements are “in a sleep mode”. The author note that the sensor’s sampling frequency should comply with two alternative requirements: the prevention of information loss during a rapid change in the state of the control object and the necessity not to recognize any information as reliable if it is received before the transients in the communication line are completed. Basing on the ratio assessment of the useful signal levels in the receiving antenna and noise, as well as taking into account the distortions in the restoration and discretization of information, the authors have derived formulas for determining the desired frequency.