Analysis and Design of a Wireless Sensor Network Based on the Residual Energy of the Nodes and the Harvested Energy from Mint Plants

Nowadays, the use of sensor nodes for the IoT is widespread; nodes that compose these networks must possess self-organizing capabilities and communication protocols that require less energy consumption during communication procedures. In this work, we propose the design and analysis of an energy harvesting system using bioelectricity harvested from mint plants that aids in powering a particular design of a wireless sensor operating in a continuous monitoring mode. The system is based on randomly turning nodes ON (active nodes) and OFF (inactive nodes) to avoid their energy depletion. While a node is in an inactive state, it is allowed to harvest energy from the surroundings. However, while the node is harvesting energy from its surroundings, it is unable to report data. As such, a clear compromise is established between the amount of information reported and the lifetime of the network. To finely tune the system’s parameters and offer an adequate operation, we derive a mathematical model based on a discrete Markov chain that describes the main dynamics of the system. We observe that with the use of mint plants, the harvested energy is of the order of a few Joules; nonetheless, such small energy values can sustain a wireless transmission if correctly adapted to drive a wireless sensor. If we consider the lowest mean harvested energy obtained from mint plants, such energy can be used to transmit up to 259,564 bits or can also be used to receive up to 301,036 bits. On the other hand, if we consider the greatest mean harvested energy, this energy can be used to transmit up to 2,394,737 bits or can also be used to receive up to 2,777,349 bits