Strengths and Weaknesses of Prominent Data Dissemination Techniques in Wireless Sensor Networks

Data dissemination is the most significant task in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). From the bootstrapping stage to the full functioning stage, a WSN must disseminate data in various patterns like from the sink to node, from node to sink, from node to node, or the like. This is what a WSN is deployed for. Hence, this issue comes with various data routing models and often there are different types of network settings that influence the way of data collection and/or distribution. Considering the importance of this issue, in this paper, we present a survey on various prominent data dissemination techniques in such network. Our classification of the existing works is based on two main parameters: the number of sink (single or multiple) and the nature of its movement (static or mobile). Under these categories, we have analyzed various previous works for their relative strengths and weaknesses. A comparison is also made based on the operational methods of various data dissemination schemes

Analysis of the energy latency trade-off in wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) haben im letzten Jahrzehnt eine erhebliche Aufmerksamkeit erlangt. Diese Netzwerke zeichnen sich durch begrenzte Energieressourcen der Sensorknoten aus. Daher ist Energieeffizienz ein wichtiges Thema in Systemdesign und -betrieb von WSNs. Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich auf großflächige Anwendungen von WSNs wie Umwelt- oder Lebensraumüberwachung, die in der Regel den Ad-hoc-Einsatz von Knoten in großen Anzahl erfordern. Ad-hoc-Einsatz und Budgetbeschränkungen hindern Entwickler an der Programmierung der Knoten mit zusätzlichen Informationen wie beispielsweise Routingtabellen, Positionskoordinaten, oder Netzwerkgrenzen. Um diese Informationen zu beschaffen, ist es üblich verschiedene Initialisierungsschemen mit erheblichen Auswirkungen auf den Energieverbrauch und den Programmieraufwand zu implementieren. In Anbetracht dieser Beschränkungen ist ein neues Paradigma für die Initialisierung und den Betrieb von WSNs notwendig, das sich durch einfachen Einsatz und minimalen Energieaufwand auszeichnet. In dieser Arbeit nutzen wir Sink-Mobilität, um den Initialisierungsoverhead und den operativen Overhead zu reduzieren. Unser erster großer Beitrag ist ein Boundary Identification Schema für WSNs mit dem Namen "Mobile Sink based Boundary Detection" (MoSBoD). Es nutzt die Sink-Mobilität um den Kommunikationsoverhead der Sensorknoten zu reduzieren, was zu einer Erhöhung der Laufzeit des WSN führt. Außerdem entstehen durch das Schema keine Einschränkungen in Bezug auf Nodeplacement, Kommunikationsmodell, oder Ortsinformationen der Knoten. Der zweite große Beitrag ist das Congestion avoidance low Latency and Energy efficient (CaLEe) Routingprotokoll für WSNs. CaLEe basiert auf der virtuellen Partitionierung eines Sensorsbereich in Sektoren und der diskreten Mobilität der Sink im WSN. Unsere Simulationsergebnisse zeigen, dass CaLEe, im Vergleich zum derzeitigen State-of-the-art, nicht nur eine erhebliche Reduzierung der durchschnittlichen Energy Dissipation per Node erzielt, sondern auch eine geringere durchschnittliche End-to-End Data Latency in realistischen Szenarien erreicht. Darüber hinaus haben wir festgestellt, dass kein einziges Protokoll in der Lage ist, eine Best-Case-Lösung (minimale Data Latency und minimale Energy Dissipation) für variierende Netzwerkkonfigurationen, die beispielsweise mithilfe der Parameter Kommunikationsbereich der Nodes, Nodedichte, Durchsatz des Sensorfelds definiert werden können, bieten. Daher ist der dritte Hauptbeitrag dieser Arbeit die Identifikation von (auf unterschiedlichen Netzwerkkonfigurationen basierenden) „Operational Regions“, in denen einzelne Protokolle besser arbeiten als andere. Zusammenfassend kann man sagen, dass diese Dissertation das klassische Energieeffizienzproblem der WSNs (Ressource-begrenzte Knoten) aufgreift und gleichzeitig die End-to-End Data Latency auf einen annehmbaren Rahmen eingrenzt.Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) have gained a considerable attention over the last decade. These networks are characterized by limited amount of energy supply at sensor node. Hence, energy efficiency is an important issue in system design and operation of WSN. This thesis focuses on large-scale applications of WSN, such as environment or habitat monitoring that usually requires ad-hoc deployment of the nodes in large numbers. Ad-hoc deployment and budget constraints restrict developers from programming the nodes with information like routing tables, position coordinates of the node, boundary of the network. In order to acquire this information, state-of-the-art is to program nodes with various initialization schemes that are heavy both from WSN’s (energy consumption) and programmer’s perspectives (programming effort). In view of these particular constraints, we require a new paradigm for WSN initialization and operation, which should be easy to deploy and have minimal energy demands. In this thesis, we exploit sink mobility to reduce the WSN initialization and operational overhead. Our first major contribution is a boundary identification scheme for WSN, named “Mobile Sink based Boundary detection” (MoSBoD). It exploits the sink mobility to remove the communication overhead from the sensor nodes, which leads to an increase in the lifetime of the WSN. Furthermore, it does not impose any restrictions on node placement, communication model, or location information of the nodes. The second major contribution is Congestion avoidance low Latency and Energy efficient (CaLEe) routing protocol for WSN. CaLEe is based on virtual partitioning of a sensor field into sectors and discrete mobility of the sink in the WSN. Our simulation results showed that CaLEe not only achieve considerable reduction in average energy dissipation per node compared to current state-of-the-art routing protocols but also accomplish lesser average end-to-end data latency under realistic scenarios. Furthermore, we observe that no single protocol is capable of providing best-case solution (minium data latency and minimum energy dissipation) under varying network configurations, which can be defined using communication range of the nodes, node density, throughput of the sensor field etc. Therefore, the third major contribution of this thesis is the identification of operational regions (based on varying network configurations) where one protocol performs better than the other. In summary, this thesis revisits the classic energy efficiency problem of a WSN (that have resource-limited nodes) while keeping end-to-end data latency under acceptable bounds

Opportunistic data collection and routing in segmented wireless sensor networks

La surveillance régulière des opérations dans les aires de manoeuvre (voies de circulation et pistes) et aires de stationnement d'un aéroport est une tâche cruciale pour son fonctionnement. Les stratégies utilisées à cette fin visent à permettre la mesure des variables environnementales, l'identification des débris (FOD) et l'enregistrement des statistiques d'utilisation de diverses sections de la surface. Selon un groupe de gestionnaires et contrôleurs d'aéroport interrogés, cette surveillance est un privilège des grands aéroports en raison des coûts élevés d'acquisition, d'installation et de maintenance des technologies existantes. Les moyens et petits aéroports se limitent généralement à la surveillance de quelques variables environnementales et des FOD effectuée visuellement par l'homme. Cette dernière activité impose l'arrêt du fonctionnement des pistes pendant l'inspection. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une solution alternative basée sur les réseaux de capteurs sans fil (WSN) qui, contrairement aux autres méthodes, combinent les propriétés de faible coût d'installation et maintenance, de déploiement rapide, d'évolutivité tout en permettant d'effectuer des mesures sans interférer avec le fonctionnement de l'aéroport. En raison de la superficie d'un aéroport et de la difficulté de placer des capteurs sur des zones de transit, le WSN se composerait d'une collection de sous-réseaux isolés les uns des autres et du puits. Pour gérer cette segmentation, notre proposition s'appuie sur l'utilisation opportuniste des véhicules circulants dans l'aéroport considérés alors comme un type spécial de nœud appelé Mobile Ubiquitous LAN Extension (MULE) chargé de collecter les données des sous-réseaux le long de son trajet et de les transférer vers le puits. L'une des exigences pour le déploiement d'un nouveau système dans un aéroport est qu'il cause peu ou pas d'interruption des opérations régulières. C'est pourquoi l'utilisation d'une approche opportuniste basé sur des MULE est privilégiée dans cette thèse. Par opportuniste, nous nous référons au fait que le rôle de MULE est joué par certains des véhicules déjà existants dans un aéroport et effectuant leurs déplacements normaux. Et certains nœuds des sous- réseaux exploiteront tout moment de contact avec eux pour leur transmettre les données à transférer ensuite au puits. Une caractéristique des MULEs dans notre application est qu'elles ont des trajectoires structurées (suivant les voies de circulation dans l'aéroport), en ayant éventuellement un contact avec l'ensemble des nœuds situés le long de leur trajet (appelés sous-puits). Ceci implique la nécessité de définir une stratégie de routage dans chaque sous-réseau, capable d'acheminer les données collectées des nœuds vers les sous-puits et de répartir les paquets de données entre eux afin que le temps en contact avec la MULE soit utilisé le plus efficacement possible. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons un protocole de routage remplissant ces fonctions. Le protocole proposé est nommé ACME (ACO-based routing protocol for MULE-assisted WSNs). Il est basé sur la technique d'Optimisation par Colonies de Fourmis. ACME permet d'assigner des nœuds à des sous-puits puis de définir les chemins entre eux, en tenant compte de la minimisation de la somme des longueurs de ces chemins, de l'équilibrage de la quantité de paquets stockés par les sous-puits et du nombre total de retransmissions. Le problème est défini comme une tâche d'optimisation multi-objectif qui est résolue de manière distribuée sur la base des actions des nœuds dans un schéma collaboratif. Nous avons développé un environnement de simulation et effectué des campagnes de calculs dans OMNeT++ qui montrent les avantages de notre protocole en termes de performances et sa capacité à s'adapter à une grande variété de topologies de réseaux.The regular monitoring of operations in both movement areas (taxiways and runways) and non-movement areas (aprons and aircraft parking spots) of an airport, is a critical task for its functioning. The set of strategies used for this purpose include the measurement of environmental variables, the identification of foreign object debris (FOD), and the record of statistics of usage for diverse sections of the surface. According to a group of airport managers and controllers interviewed by us, the wide monitoring of most of these variables is a privilege of big airports due to the high acquisition, installation and maintenance costs of most common technologies. Due to this limitation, smaller airports often limit themselves to the monitoring of environmental variables at some few spatial points and the tracking of FOD performed by humans. This last activity requires stopping the functioning of the runways while the inspection is conducted. In this thesis, we propose an alternative solution based on Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) which, unlike the other methods/technologies, combines the desirable properties of low installation and maintenance cost, scalability and ability to perform measurements without interfering with the regular functioning of the airport. Due to the large extension of an airport and the difficulty of placing sensors over transit areas, the WSN might result segmented into a collection of subnetworks isolated from each other and from the sink. To overcome this problem, our proposal relies on a special type of node called Mobile Ubiquitous LAN Extension (MULE), able to move over the airport surface, gather data from the subnetworks along its way and eventually transfer it to the sink. One of the main demands for the deployment of any new system in an airport is that it must have little or no interference with the regular operations. This is why the use of an opportunistic approach for the transfer of data from the subnetworks to the MULE is favored in this thesis. By opportunistic we mean that the role of MULE will be played by some of the typical vehicles already existing in an airport doing their normal displacements, and the subnetworks will exploit any moment of contact with them to forward data to the sink. A particular characteristic of the MULEs in our application is that they move along predefined structured trajectories (given by the layout of the airport), having eventual contact with the set of nodes located by the side of the road (so-called subsinks). This implies the need for a data routing strategy to be used within each subnetwork, able to lead the collected data from the sensor nodes to the subsinks and distribute the data packets among them so that the time in contact with the MULE is used as efficiently as possible. In this thesis, we propose a routing protocol which undertakes this task. Our proposed protocol is named ACME, standing for ACO-based routing protocol for MULE-assisted WSNs. It is founded on the well known Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) technique. The main advantage of ACO is its natural fit to the decentralized nature of WSN, which allows it to perform distributed optimizations (based on local interactions) leading to remarkable overall network performance. ACME is able to assign sensor nodes to subsinks and generate the corresponding multi-hop paths while accounting for the minimization of the total path length, the total subsink imbalance and the total number of retransmissions. The problem is defined as a multi-objective optimization task which is resolved in a distributed manner based on actions of the sensor nodes acting in a collaborative scheme. We conduct a set of computational experiments in the discrete event simulator OMNeT++ which shows the advantages of our protocol in terms of performance and its ability to adapt to a variety of network topologie

Decentralized data fusion and data harvesting framework for heterogeneous dynamic network systems

Diese Dissertation behandelt das Thema der dezentralisieren Sammlung und Fusion von Daten in heterogenen, ressourcenbeschraekten und dynamischen Netzwerkszenarien. Dazu wird ein generisches Framework vorgestellt, dass es erlaubt die Datensammlung, den Datenaustausch und auch die Datenfusion dynamisch zu konfigurieren. Im Zuge dessen wird auch eine Methode zur gerichteten Fusion von Daten auf graphentheoretischer Basis eingefrt, die es erlaubt eine logische Struktur fuer die Fusion von Informationen zu modellieren. Eine Markup-Sprache, die sowohl menschen- als auch maschinenlesbar ist, erlaubt es diese Struktur leicht zu editieren. Im Bereich der Protokolle zum Datenaustausch liegt der Fokus dieser Arbeit auf Energieeffizienz, um auch ressourcenbeschraenkte Geraete einzubinden. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt liegt auf Robustheit fuer die betrachteten dynamischen Szenarien. Diese Dissertation schlaet zudem Design-Richtlinien vor, um verschiedene Ziele fuer unterschiedliche Applikationen umzusetzen. Diese lassen sich leicht in das vorgestellte Framework integrieren und darueber konfigurieren. Dadurch ergibt sich im Ganzen eine flexible Architektur, die sich leicht an dynamische Umgebungen anpassen laesst.With the increasing number of available smart phones, sensor nodes, and novel mobile smart devices such as Google glass, a large volume of data reflecting the environment is generated in the form of sensing data sources (such as GPS, received signal strength identification, accelerometer, microphone, images, videos and gyroscope, etc.). Some context-aware and data centric applications require the online processing of the data collected. The thesis researches on the decentralized data fusion and data harvesting framework for heterogeneous dynamic network system consisting of various devices with resource constraints. In order to achieve the flexible design, a general architecture is provided while the detailed data fusion and data exchange functions can be dynamically configured. A novel method to use directed fusion graph to model the logical structure of the distributed information fusion architecture is introduced. This directed fusion graph can accurately portray the interconnection among different data fusion components and the data exchange protocols, as well as the detailed data streams. The directed fusion graph is then transformed into a format with marked language, so that both human and machine can easily understand and edit. In the field of data exchange protocols, this thesis targets energy-efficiency considering the resource constraints of the devices and robustness, as the dynamic environment might cause failures to the system. It proposes a refined gossip strategy to reduce retransmission of redundant data. The thesis also suggests a design guideline to achieve different design aims for different applications. These results in this field can be integrated into the framework effortlessly. The configuration mechanism is another feature of this framework. Different from other research work which consider configuration as a post-design work separated from the main design of any middle-ware. This thesis considers the configuration part as another dimension of the framework. The whole strategy in configuration sets up the foundation for the flexible architecture, and makes it easy to adapt to the dynamic environment. The contributions in the above fields lead to a light-weight data fusion and data harvesting framework which can be deployed easily above wireless based, heterogeneous, dynamic network systems, even in extreme conditions, to handle data-centric applications

Information discovery in multi-dimensional autonomous wireless sensor networks

 The thesis proposed four novel algorithms of information discovery for Multidimensional Autonomous Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) that can significantly increase network lifetime and minimize query processing latency, resulting in quality of service improvements that are of immense benefit to Multidimensional Autonomous WSNs are deployed in complex environments (e.g., mission-critical applications)

Intelligent Sensor Networks

In the last decade, wireless or wired sensor networks have attracted much attention. However, most designs target general sensor network issues including protocol stack (routing, MAC, etc.) and security issues. This book focuses on the close integration of sensing, networking, and smart signal processing via machine learning. Based on their world-class research, the authors present the fundamentals of intelligent sensor networks. They cover sensing and sampling, distributed signal processing, and intelligent signal learning. In addition, they present cutting-edge research results from leading experts

Data and the city – accessibility and openness. a cybersalon paper on open data

This paper showcases examples of bottom–up open data and smart city applications and identifies lessons for future such efforts. Examples include Changify, a neighbourhood-based platform for residents, businesses, and companies; Open Sensors, which provides APIs to help businesses, startups, and individuals develop applications for the Internet of Things; and Cybersalon’s Hackney Treasures. a location-based mobile app that uses Wikipedia entries geolocated in Hackney borough to map notable local residents. Other experiments with sensors and open data by Cybersalon members include Ilze Black and Nanda Khaorapapong's The Breather, a "breathing" balloon that uses high-end, sophisticated sensors to make air quality visible; and James Moulding's AirPublic, which measures pollution levels. Based on Cybersalon's experience to date, getting data to the people is difficult, circuitous, and slow, requiring an intricate process of leadership, public relations, and perseverance. Although there are myriad tools and initiatives, there is no one solution for the actual transfer of that data

Políticas de Copyright de Publicações Científicas em Repositórios Institucionais: O Caso do INESC TEC

A progressiva transformação das práticas científicas, impulsionada pelo desenvolvimento das novas Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC), têm possibilitado aumentar o acesso à informação, caminhando gradualmente para uma abertura do ciclo de pesquisa. Isto permitirá resolver a longo prazo uma adversidade que se tem colocado aos investigadores, que passa pela existência de barreiras que limitam as condições de acesso, sejam estas geográficas ou financeiras. Apesar da produção científica ser dominada, maioritariamente, por grandes editoras comerciais, estando sujeita às regras por estas impostas, o Movimento do Acesso Aberto cuja primeira declaração pública, a Declaração de Budapeste (BOAI), é de 2002, vem propor alterações significativas que beneficiam os autores e os leitores. Este Movimento vem a ganhar importância em Portugal desde 2003, com a constituição do primeiro repositório institucional a nível nacional. Os repositórios institucionais surgiram como uma ferramenta de divulgação da produção científica de uma instituição, com o intuito de permitir abrir aos resultados da investigação, quer antes da publicação e do próprio processo de arbitragem (preprint), quer depois (postprint), e, consequentemente, aumentar a visibilidade do trabalho desenvolvido por um investigador e a respetiva instituição. O estudo apresentado, que passou por uma análise das políticas de copyright das publicações científicas mais relevantes do INESC TEC, permitiu não só perceber que as editoras adotam cada vez mais políticas que possibilitam o auto-arquivo das publicações em repositórios institucionais, como também que existe todo um trabalho de sensibilização a percorrer, não só para os investigadores, como para a instituição e toda a sociedade. A produção de um conjunto de recomendações, que passam pela implementação de uma política institucional que incentive o auto-arquivo das publicações desenvolvidas no âmbito institucional no repositório, serve como mote para uma maior valorização da produção científica do INESC TEC.The progressive transformation of scientific practices, driven by the development of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which made it possible to increase access to information, gradually moving towards an opening of the research cycle. This opening makes it possible to resolve, in the long term, the adversity that has been placed on researchers, which involves the existence of barriers that limit access conditions, whether geographical or financial. Although large commercial publishers predominantly dominate scientific production and subject it to the rules imposed by them, the Open Access movement whose first public declaration, the Budapest Declaration (BOAI), was in 2002, proposes significant changes that benefit the authors and the readers. This Movement has gained importance in Portugal since 2003, with the constitution of the first institutional repository at the national level. Institutional repositories have emerged as a tool for disseminating the scientific production of an institution to open the results of the research, both before publication and the preprint process and postprint, increase the visibility of work done by an investigator and his or her institution. The present study, which underwent an analysis of the copyright policies of INESC TEC most relevant scientific publications, allowed not only to realize that publishers are increasingly adopting policies that make it possible to self-archive publications in institutional repositories, all the work of raising awareness, not only for researchers but also for the institution and the whole society. The production of a set of recommendations, which go through the implementation of an institutional policy that encourages the self-archiving of the publications developed in the institutional scope in the repository, serves as a motto for a greater appreciation of the scientific production of INESC TEC