Communication protocol for monitoring a large number of remotely distributed hazardous material detection devices

Modem wireless communication technologies opened up new avenues of data collection from remotely distributed environmental sensors. Global Mobile Communications (GSM) and satellite telephone services currently cover almost all parts of the world. With this development, it became feasible to place and collect data from remote sensors at locations which were previously inaccessible due to distance or extremely restrictive conditions. Although data collection through wireless devices is becoming popular by the day, there is no unified protocol for sending and receiving information from remote devices. In this study, a communication protocol is developed for monitoring a large number of remotely distributed environmental devices. The protocol is being implemented as a part of a project which aims to place a large number of environmental monitoring devices throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE). (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.