A ZigBee-Based Wireless Sensor Network for Continuous Sound and Noise Level Monitoring on the ISS

Acoustic survey is now performed using hand-held devices once every two months on the international space station (ISS). It takes quite a lot of precious crew time and the sporadic monitoring program is not adequate. This Phase I proposal is concerned with developing an automated sound level and noise exposure monitoring system running on a ZigBee-compliant wireless sensor network. In the proposed research, we will focus on a preliminary design of the monitoring terminal that integrates the functionalities of microphone, data sampling, and signal processing along with data communication through a ZigBee wireless channel. Sufficient compliance of the developed sound level meter and noise dosimeter with the related ANSI standards will be tested and demonstrated. This plan takes advantage of our broad knowledge in acoustic signal processing and ZigBee wireless sensor network, and will benefit from our experience and skills with the development of embedded digital signal processing systems using either FPGA (field programmable gate array) or DSP (digital signal processor). The Phase I effort will provide a foundation for prototype design to be conducted in Phase II. More »