A wireless sensor network (WSN), on the other hand, can reach up to hundreds of kilometres. Inspired by battlefield surveillance, WSNs consist of autonomous sensors spread across large areas.

A sensor network normally constitutes a wireless ad-hoc network, meaning that each sensor supports a multi-hop routing algorithm (several nodes may forward data packets to the base station).

"Ultra low power analog-to-digital converter for medical devices and wireless sensor nodes." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 August 2012. <www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2012 / 08 / 120820121228 ...