Markov Decision Processes with Applications in Wireless Sensor Networks: A Survey

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consist of autonomous and resource-limited devices. The devices cooperate to monitor one or more physical phenomena within an area of interest. WSNs operate as stochastic systems because of randomness in the monitored environments. For long service time and low maintenance cost, WSNs require adaptive and robust methods to address data exchange, topology formulation, resource and power optimization, sensing coverage and object detection, and security challenges. In these problems, sensor nodes are to make optimized decisions from a set of accessible strategies to achieve design goals. This survey reviews numerous applications of the Markov decision process (MDP) framework, a powerful decision-making tool to develop adaptive algorithms and protocols for WSNs. Furthermore, various solution methods are discussed and compared to serve as a guide for using MDPs in WSNs

A Critical Review on Energy-Efficient Medium Access Control for Wireless and Mobile Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor network (WSN) has garnered remarkable attention due to its wide supports for plenty of applications such as, health systems; military based applications, environmental monitoring, and tactical system. In ContentionBased Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols related to the energy consumption. In this paper, a combative review of energy consumption in Contention-Based MAC protocols was provided. Furthermore, a general comparison that stated the strengths and drawbacks with every utilized technique was offered. The main aim of this paper is to assist the researcher to choose the right protocol for developing purpose or further investigation regarding the performance

Energy scavenging system for indoor wireless sensor network

As wireless communication evolves wireless sensors have begun to be integrated into society more and more. As these sensors are used to a greater extent newer and better ways to keep them working optimally have begun to surface. One such method aims to further the sensors energy independence on humans. This technique is known as energy scavenging. The logic behind energy scavenging is to allow the device to have its own reliable source of energy that does not require upkeep, has a long life expectancy, and does not completely rely on an internal power source. The aim of this thesis is to research techniques for indoor energy scavenging for sensor that is used to monitor patients in a hospital. There are numerous techniques to achieve energy scavenging in wireless sensor networks. Multiple scavenging methods are known such as vibration energy, thermoelectric energy, and photovoltaic energy. All of these methods were analyzed and compared to see which would be optimal for the situation the sensor would be put in. Other techniques come into play to help the efficiency of the sensor network. These methods were also examined to help the energy scavenging to be more feasible