A performance simulation tool for the analysis of data gathering in both terrestrial and underwater sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have greatly contributed to human-associated technologies. The deployment of WSNs has transcended several paradigms. Two of the most significant features of WSNs are the intensity of deployment and the criticalness of the applications that they govern. The tradeoff between volume and cost requires justified investments for evaluating the multitudes of hardware and complementary software options. In underwater sensor networks (USNs), testing any technique is not only costly but also difficult in terms of full deployment. Therefore, evaluation prior to the actual procurement and setup of a WSN and USN is an extremely important step. The spectrum of performance analysis tools encompassing the test-bed, analysis, and simulation has been able to provide the prerequisites that these evaluations require. Simulations have proven to be an extensively used tool for analysis in the computer network field. A number of simulation tools have been developed for wired/wireless radio networks. However, each simulation tool has several restrictions when extended to the analysis of WSNs. These restrictions are largely attributed to the unique nature of each WSN within a designated area of research. In addition, these tools cannot be used for underwater environments with an acoustic communication medium, because there is a wide range of differences between radio and acoustic communications. The primary purpose of this paper is to present, propose, and develop a discrete event simulation designed specifically for mobile data gathering in WSNs. In addition, this simulator has the ability to simulate 2-D USNs. This simulator has been tailored to cater to both mobile and static data gathering techniques for both topologies, which are either dense or light. The results obtained using this simulator have shown an evolving efficient simulator for both WSNs and USNs. The developed simulator has been extensively tested in terms of its validity and scope of governance

Analysis of the security and reliability of packet transmission in Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) : a case study of Malicious Packet drop attack

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are known for possessing good attributes such as low up-front cost, easy network maintenance, and reliable service coverage. This has largely made them to be adopted in various areas such as; school campus networks, community networking, pervasive healthcare, office and home automation, emergency rescue operations and ubiquitous wireless networks. The routing nodes are equipped with self-organized and self-configuring capabilities. The routing mechanisms of WMNs depend on the collaboration of all participating nodes for reliable network performance. However, it has been noted that most routing algorithms proposed for WMNs in the last few years are designed with the assumption that all the participating nodes will collaboratively be involved in relaying the data packets originated from a source to a multi-hop destination. Such design approach exposes WMNs to vulnerability such as malicious packet drop attack. Therefore, it is imperative to design and implement secure and reliable packet routing mechanisms to mitigate this type of attack. While there are works that have attempted to implement secure routing approach, the findings in this research unearthed that further research works are required to improve the existing secure routing in order to provide more secure and reliable packet transmission in WMNs, in the event of denial of service (DoS) attacks such black hole malicious pack drop attack. This study further presents an analysis of the impact of the black hole malicious packet drop attack with other influential factors in WMNs. In the study, NS-3 simulator was used with AODV as the routing protocol. The results show that the packet delivery ratio and throughput of WMN under attack decreases sharply as compared to WMN free from attack

Energy efficient Routing Protocols for Underwater Acoustic Wireless Sensor Network

Technological advancement regarding oceanic world discovery and monitoring has led to autonomous communication, which results in the emergence of the Internet of underwater things (IoUT). Underwater acoustic wireless sensor networks have become one of the most recently researched within the IoUT. An underwater acoustic wireless sensor network consists of sensor nodes, autonomous vehicles, and remotely operated vehicles which are normally deployed to carry out a collaborative task within an underwater region. Underwater acoustic wireless sensor networks have become one of the most recently researched area which supports long transmission range. However, acoustic signals experience deformation due to factors which consist of noise, propagation delay, and low bandwidth. Sensor nodes are battery dependent which mean they are difficult to recharge or replace once deployed. Routing protocols play important role in the communication process between these sensor nodes. As a result, this research aims to develop an energy efficient routing protocol that can bring about optimal policies for energy consumption in the process of data aggregation and transmission. The developed routing protocol focused on sparse and dense network architectures by examining the popular ad-hoc routing protocol action on demand distance vector routing protocol (AODV) for sparse networks and low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) for dense network. For a sparse architecture this research identifies current energy and overhead challenges facing AODV which in turn modifies the protocol by creating a new energy aware and overhead friendly routing protocol called action on demand distance vector sparse underwater acoustic routing protocol (AODV-SUARP) for underwater communication. AODV-SUARP introduces the mechanism of route stability function (RSF) by colour mode to select the most energy efficient route to forwards packets. For dense architecture this research identifies the energy challenge facing the conventional LEACH routing protocol which in turn leads to its modification by creating a new energy aware routing protocol called low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy dense underwater acoustic routing protocol (LEACH-DUARP). Furthermore, for the optimal selection of eligible cluster head in a subsequent round LEACH-DUARP introduces a concept called the stability function value (SFV). The developed routing protocols (AODV-SUARP and LEACH-DUARP) were implemented in NS-3 and validated using mathematical modelling. Results obtained indicated both AODV-SUARP and LEACH-DUARP achieves a considerable result compared to other routing protocols in terms of residual energy, packet delivery ratio, and number of dead nodes

Modelling, Analysis, and Simulation of Underwater Acoustic Channels : Doctoral Dissertation for the Degree Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Specialization in Information and Communication Technology

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