Routing efficiency in wireless sensor-actor networks considering semi-automated architecture

Wireless networks have become increasingly popular and advances in wireless communications and electronics have enabled the development of different kind of networks such as Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs), Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and Wireless Sensor-Actor Networks (WSANs). These networks have different kind of characteristics, therefore new protocols that fit their features should be developed. We have developed a simulation system to test MANETs, WSNs and WSANs. In this paper, we consider the performance behavior of two protocols: AODV and DSR using TwoRayGround model and Shadowing model for lattice and random topologies. We study the routing efficiency and compare the performance of two protocols for different scenarios. By computer simulations, we found that for large number of nodes when we used TwoRayGround model and random topology, the DSR protocol has a better performance. However, when the transmission rate is higher, the routing efficiency parameter is unstable.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Performance evaluation of wireless sensor networks for mobile event and mobile sink

Extending lifetime and energy efficiency are important objectives and challenges in-Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). In large scale WSNs, when the nodes are near to the sink they consume much more energy than the nodes far from the sink. In our previous work, we considered that the sink node was stationary and only event node was moving in the observation field. In this work, we consider both cases when the sink node and event node are moving. For the simulations, we use TwoRayGround and Shadowing radio models, lattice topology and AODV protocol. We compare the simulation results for the cases when the sink node and event node are mobile and stationary. The simulation results have shown that the goodput of TwoRayGround is better than Shadowing in case of mobile event, but the depletion of Shadowing is better than TwoRayGround in case of mobile event. The goodput in case of mobile sink is better than stationary sink when the transmission rate is lower than 10pps. For TwoRayGround radio model, the depletion in case of mobile sink is better than stationary sink when the number of nodes is increasedPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Survey on Data-Centric based Routing Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks

The great concern for energy that grew with the technological advances in the field of networks and especially in sensor network has triggered various approaches and protocols that relate to sensor networks. In this context, the routing protocols were of great interest. The aim of the present paper is to discuss routing protocols for sensor networks. This paper will focus mainly on the discussion of the data-centric approach (COUGAR, rumor, SPIN, flooding and Gossiping), while shedding light on the other approaches occasionally. The functions of the nodes will be discussed as well. The methodology selected for this paper is based on a close description and discussion of the protocol. As a conclusion, open research questions and limitations are proposed to the reader at the end of this paper

Secure Routing in Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) have emerged as a promising concept to meet the challenges in next-generation networks such as providing flexible, adaptive, and reconfigurable architecture while offering cost-effective solutions to the service providers. Unlike traditional Wi-Fi networks, with each access point (AP) connected to the wired network, in WMNs only a subset of the APs are required to be connected to the wired network. The APs that are connected to the wired network are called the Internet gateways (IGWs), while the APs that do not have wired connections are called the mesh routers (MRs). The MRs are connected to the IGWs using multi-hop communication. The IGWs provide access to conventional clients and interconnect ad hoc, sensor, cellular, and other networks to the Internet. However, most of the existing routing protocols for WMNs are extensions of protocols originally designed for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) and thus they perform sub-optimally. Moreover, most routing protocols for WMNs are designed without security issues in mind, where the nodes are all assumed to be honest. In practical deployment scenarios, this assumption does not hold. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of security issues in WMNs and then particularly focuses on secure routing in these networks. First, it identifies security vulnerabilities in the medium access control (MAC) and the network layers. Various possibilities of compromising data confidentiality, data integrity, replay attacks and offline cryptanalysis are also discussed. Then various types of attacks in the MAC and the network layers are discussed. After enumerating the various types of attacks on the MAC and the network layer, the chapter briefly discusses on some of the preventive mechanisms for these attacks.Comment: 44 pages, 17 figures, 5 table

Reducing energy consumption in mobile ad-hoc sensor networks

PhD ThesisRecent rapid development of wireless communication technologies and portable mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones and wireless sensors bring the best out of mobile computing, particularly Mobile Ad-hoc Sensor Networks (MASNETs). MASNETs are types of Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) that are designed to consider energy in mind because they have severe resource constraints due to their lack of processing power, limited memory, and bandwidth as in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Hence, they have the characteristics, requirements, and limitations of both MANETs and WSNs. There are many potential applications of MASNETs such as a real-time target tracking and an ocean temperature monitoring. In these applications, mobility is the fundamental characteristic of the sensor nodes, and it poses many challenges to the routing algorithm. One of the greatest challenge is to provide a routing algorithm that is capable of dynamically changing its topology in the mobile environment with minimal consumption of energy. In MASNETs, the main reason of the topology change is because of the movement of mobile sensor nodes and not the node failure due to energy depletion. Since these sensor nodes are limited in power supply and have low radio frequency coverage, they easily lose their connection with neighbours, and face diffi culties in updating their routing tables. The switching process from one coverage area to another consumes more energy. This network must be able to adaptively alter the routing paths to minimize the effects of variable wireless link quality, topological changes, and transmission power levels on energy consumption of the network. Hence, nodes prefer to use as little transmission power as necessary and transmit control packets as infrequently as possible in energy constrained MASNETs. Therefore, in this thesis we propose a new dynamic energy-aware routing algorithm based on the trans- mission power control (TPC). This method effectively decreases the average percentage of packet loss and reduces the average total energy consumption which indirectly pro- long the network lifetime of MASNETs. To validate the proposed protocol, we ran the simulation on the Avrora simulator and varied speed, density, and route update interval of mobile nodes. Finally, the performance of the proposed routing algorithm was measured and compared against the basic Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing algorithm in MASNETs.The Ministry of Education of Malaysia: The Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Design of implicit routing protocols for large scale mobile wireless sensor networks

Strathclyde theses - ask staff. Thesis no. : T13189Most developments in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) routing protocols address static network scenarios. Schemes developed to manage mobility in other mobile networking implementations do not translate effectively to WSNs as the system design parameters are markedly different. Thus this research focuses on the issues of mobility and scalability in order to enable the full potential of WSNs to self-organise and co-operate and in so doing, meet the requirements of a rich mix of applications. In the goal of designing efficient, reliable routing protocols for large scale mobile WSN applications, this work lays the foundation by firstly presenting a strong case supported by extensive simulations, for the use of implicit connections. Then two novel implicit routing protocols - Virtual Grid Paging (VGP) and Virtual Zone Registration and Paging (VZRP) - that treat packet routing from node mobility and network scalability viewpoints are designed and analysed. Implicit routing exploits the connection availability and diversity in the underlying network to provide benefits such as fault tolerance, overhead control and improvement in QoS (Quality of Service) such as delay. Analysis and simulation results show that the proposed protocols guarantee significant improvement, delivering a more reliable, more efficient and better network performance compared with alternatives.Most developments in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) routing protocols address static network scenarios. Schemes developed to manage mobility in other mobile networking implementations do not translate effectively to WSNs as the system design parameters are markedly different. Thus this research focuses on the issues of mobility and scalability in order to enable the full potential of WSNs to self-organise and co-operate and in so doing, meet the requirements of a rich mix of applications. In the goal of designing efficient, reliable routing protocols for large scale mobile WSN applications, this work lays the foundation by firstly presenting a strong case supported by extensive simulations, for the use of implicit connections. Then two novel implicit routing protocols - Virtual Grid Paging (VGP) and Virtual Zone Registration and Paging (VZRP) - that treat packet routing from node mobility and network scalability viewpoints are designed and analysed. Implicit routing exploits the connection availability and diversity in the underlying network to provide benefits such as fault tolerance, overhead control and improvement in QoS (Quality of Service) such as delay. Analysis and simulation results show that the proposed protocols guarantee significant improvement, delivering a more reliable, more efficient and better network performance compared with alternatives