ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the relationship between the sensor network architecture and its availability for both data collection and event sensing applications. It argues that a cluster-based architecture where personal area networks (PAN) coordinators have higher power resources, GTS links for communication, and reliable information about cluster members offers better availability and data integrity than a peer-to-peer architecture. Within one cluster, time is organized in superframes which are delineated by beacons sent by the PAN Within one cluster, time is organized in superframes which are delineated by beacons sent by the PAN coordinator. One of the most significant benefits of sensor networks is that they extend the computation capability to physical environments where human beings cannot reach. Cluster-level authentication is achieved using a common network key, whereas device-level authentication is achieved by using unique pairwise keys for each link in the network.
