4th International ICST Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking and Services

Research Article

Battery-Aware Embedded GPS Receiver Node

  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.1109/MOBIQ.2007.4450986,
        author={Dejan Raskovic and David Giessel},
        title={Battery-Aware Embedded GPS Receiver Node},
        proceedings={4th International ICST Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking and Services},
        publisher={IEEE},
        proceedings_a={MOBIQUITOUS},
        year={2008},
        month={2},
        keywords={Embedded GPS; accelerometer; battery-aware; wireless sensor networks; localization; time synchronization},
        doi={10.1109/MOBIQ.2007.4450986}
    }
    
  • Dejan Raskovic
    David Giessel
    Year: 2008
    Battery-Aware Embedded GPS Receiver Node
    MOBIQUITOUS
    IEEE
    DOI: 10.1109/MOBIQ.2007.4450986
Dejan Raskovic1,*, David Giessel1,*
  • 1: Electrical and Computer Engineering Department University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks, AK, USA
*Contact email: d.raskovic@uaf.edu, d.giessel@ieee.org

Abstract

This paper discusses the design and implementation of an ultra low power embedded GPS receiver node for use in remote monitoring situations where battery life is of the utmost importance. The power consumed by a GPS radio is high when compared to other typical components of sensor networks. We offer several hardware and software solutions to prolong the battery life while preserving a required GPS tracking precision. A standard SiRF Trickle Mode, available on some of the latest chipsets switches between the full power and a single fixed duty cycle. If the fixed duty cycle is set too low, Trickle Mode causes too many signal drops; if set too high, consumes too much energy. Adding a low-power microcontroller allows us to dynamically change the operation mode by setting the duty cycle in relatively small steps, based on a set of less stringent and application dependant set of rules. In addition, an accelerometer is used as an energy efficient way of detecting that the object or person carrying the GPS is not moving. This allows the GPS-equipped node to switch to the lowest possible power consumption mode that still allows for fast restarts. Several hardware and software design aspects are explored and several measurements comparing system performance to commercially available products are shown to illustrate the effectiveness of the system.