Orchard environmental monitoring system based on GPRS and ZigBee

【Objective】 To design an environmental monitoring and decision support system based on wireless sensor network (WSN).【Method】 The system was assembled by ZigBee-GPRS gateway and wireless sensor nodes，which could monitor remote dynamic of orchard environment. CC2530 was used as wireless data transceiver chip for ZigBee sensor nodes, and ComWay GPRS modem was selected. Ecological information was collected and transmitted for cooperation in a remote PC through ZigBee and GPRS networks accordingly. Irrigation processes were arranged by a decision software.【Result and conclusion】 Data could be transferred between system sensor networks and mobile communication network according to the system. Meanwhile, protocol conversion between different types of sensor networks and integrant sensor network managements could be completed. Further observations showed that the average packet loss rate was lower than 10%. This system could be suitable for orchard applications.