Machine Learning in Wireless Sensor Networks: Algorithms, Strategies, and Applications

Wireless sensor networks monitor dynamic environments that change rapidly over time. This dynamic behavior is either caused by external factors or initiated by the system designers themselves. To adapt to such conditions, sensor networks often adopt machine learning techniques to eliminate the need for unnecessary redesign. Machine learning also inspires many practical solutions that maximize resource utilization and prolong the lifespan of the network. In this paper, we present an extensive literature review over the period 2002-2013 of machine learning methods that were used to address common issues in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The advantages and disadvantages of each proposed algorithm are evaluated against the corresponding problem. We also provide a comparative guide to aid WSN designers in developing suitable machine learning solutions for their specific application challenges.Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorial

Thirty Years of Machine Learning: The Road to Pareto-Optimal Wireless Networks

Future wireless networks have a substantial potential in terms of supporting a broad range of complex compelling applications both in military and civilian fields, where the users are able to enjoy high-rate, low-latency, low-cost and reliable information services. Achieving this ambitious goal requires new radio techniques for adaptive learning and intelligent decision making because of the complex heterogeneous nature of the network structures and wireless services. Machine learning (ML) algorithms have great success in supporting big data analytics, efficient parameter estimation and interactive decision making. Hence, in this article, we review the thirty-year history of ML by elaborating on supervised learning, unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning and deep learning. Furthermore, we investigate their employment in the compelling applications of wireless networks, including heterogeneous networks (HetNets), cognitive radios (CR), Internet of things (IoT), machine to machine networks (M2M), and so on. This article aims for assisting the readers in clarifying the motivation and methodology of the various ML algorithms, so as to invoke them for hitherto unexplored services as well as scenarios of future wireless networks.Comment: 46 pages, 22 fig

Energy-Efficient Data Acquisition in Wireless Sensor Networks through Spatial Correlation

The application of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is restrained by their often-limited lifetime. A sensor node's lifetime is fundamentally linked to the volume of data that it senses, processes and reports. Spatial correlation between sensor nodes is an inherent phenomenon to WSNs, induced by redundant nodes which report duplicated information. In this paper, we report on the design of a distributed sampling scheme referred to as the 'Virtual Sampling Scheme' (VSS). This scheme is formed from two components: an algorithm for forming virtual clusters, and a distributed sampling method. VSS primarily utilizes redundancy of sensor nodes to get only a subset to sense the environment at any one time. Sensor nodes that are not sensing the environment are in a low-power sleep state, thus conserving energy. Furthermore, VSS balances the energy consumption amongst nodes by using a round robin method

Distributed Clustering Based on Node Density and Distance in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are special type of network with sensing and monitoring the physical parameters with the property of autonomous in nature. To implement this autonomy and network management the common method used is hierarchical clustering. Hierarchical clustering helps for ease access to data collection and forwarding the same to the base station. The proposed Distributed Self-organizing Load Balancing Clustering Algorithm (DSLBCA) for WSNs designed considering the parameters of neighbor distance, residual energy, and node density.  The validity of the DSLBCA has been shown by comparing the network lifetime and energy dissipation with Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH), and Hybrid Energy Efficient Distributed Clustering (HEED). The proposed algorithm shows improved result in enhancing the life time of the network in both stationary and mobile environment

Data Aggregation and its Impact on Overall QoS of Lossy Wireless Sensor Network: A Survey

In Wireless sensor network, packet loss due to buffer overflow of sensor nodes and the delay caused due to retransmission of that lost packet is a major problem. So a big challenge is to improve the delay performance along with reliability of WSN. The goal of the proposed system is to broadcast sensed data to focus on delay performance. Also congestion at collector node due to duplicate sensed data in network is reduced by data aggregation, for this we compute a function at the collector node from the information gathered by spatially distributed sensor nodes. Because wireless sensor network applications require various levels of communication reliability (CR), the data transmission should satisfy the desired CR of the applications. Here, we propose a flexible loss recovery mechanism (called Active Caching) for sensor network applications with various CRs. The proposed scheme caches data packets at intermediate nodes over routing paths computed by CR to retransmit lost packets during multi-hop transmissions. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.150516

Clustered wireless sensor networks

The study of topology in randomly deployed wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is important in addressing the fundamental issue of stochastic coverage resulting from randomness in the deployment procedure and power management algorithms. This dissertation defines and studies clustered WSNs, WSNs whose topology due to the deployment procedure and the application requirements results in the phenomenon of clustering or clumping of nodes. The first part of this dissertation analyzes a range of topologies of clustered WSNs and their impact on the primary sensing objectives of coverage and connectivity. By exploiting the inherent advantages of clustered topologies of nodes, this dissertation presents techniques for optimizing the primary performance metrics of power consumption and network capacity. It analyzes clustering in the presence of obstacles, and studies varying levels of redundancy to determine the probability of coverage in the network. The proposed models for clustered WSNs embrace the domain of a wide range of topologies that are prevalent in actual real-world deployment scenarios, and call for clustering-specific protocols to enhance network performance. It has been shown that power management algorithms tailored to various clustering scenarios optimize the level of active coverage and maximize the network lifetime. The second part of this dissertation addresses the problem of edge effects and heavy traffic on queuing in clustered WSNs. In particular, an admission control model called directed ignoring model has been developed that aims to minimize the impact of edge effects in queuing by improving queuing metrics such as packet loss and wait time

Data and resource management in wireless networks via data compression, GPS-free dissemination, and learning

“This research proposes several innovative approaches to collect data efficiently from large scale WSNs. First, a Z-compression algorithm has been proposed which exploits the temporal locality of the multi-dimensional sensing data and adapts the Z-order encoding algorithm to map multi-dimensional data to a one-dimensional data stream. The extended version of Z-compression adapts itself to working in low power WSNs running under low power listening (LPL) mode, and comprehensively analyzes its performance compressing both real-world and synthetic datasets. Second, it proposed an efficient geospatial based data collection scheme for IoTs that reduces redundant rebroadcast of up to 95% by only collecting the data of interest. As most of the low-cost wireless sensors won’t be equipped with a GPS module, the virtual coordinates are used to estimate the locations. The proposed work utilizes the anchor-based virtual coordinate system and DV-Hop (Distance vector of hops to anchors) to estimate the relative location of nodes to anchors. Also, it uses circle and hyperbola constraints to encode the position of interest (POI) and any user-defined trajectory into a data request message which allows only the sensors in the POI and routing trajectory to collect and route. It also provides location anonymity by avoiding using and transmitting GPS location information. This has been extended also for heterogeneous WSNs and refined the encoding algorithm by replacing the circle constraints with the ellipse constraints. Last, it proposes a framework that predicts the trajectory of the moving object using a Sequence-to-Sequence learning (Seq2Seq) model and only wakes-up the sensors that fall within the predicted trajectory of the moving object with a specially designed control packet. It reduces the computation time of encoding geospatial trajectory by more than 90% and preserves the location anonymity for the local edge servers”--Abstract, page iv

Energy Efficient Routing Protocols and algorithms for Wireless Sensor Networks a A Survey

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are an emerging technology for monitoring physical world. The sensor nodes are capable of sensing various types of environmental conditions, have some processing capabilities and ability to communicate the sensed data through wireless communication. Routing algorithms for WSNs are responsible for selecting and maintaining the routes in the network and ensure reliable and effective communication in limited periods. The energy constraint of WSNs make energy saving become the most important objective of various routing algorithms. In this paper, a survey of routing protocols and algorithms used in WSNs is presented with energy efficiency as the main goal

The Hybrid Algorithm for Data Collection over a Tree Topology in WSN

Wireless sensor networks have wide range of application such as analysis of traffic, monitoring of environmental, industrial process monitoring, technical systems, civilian and military application. Data collection is a basic function of wireless sensor networks (WSN) where sensor nodes determine attributes about a phenomenon of concern and transmits their readings to a common base station(sink node). In this paper, we use contention-free Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) support scheduling protocols for such data collection applications over tree-based routing topology. We represent a data gathering techniques to get the growing capacity, routing protocol all along with algorithms planned for remote wireless sensor networks. This paper describes about the model of sensor networks which has been made workable by the junction of micro-electro-mechanical systems technologies, digital electronics and wireless communications. Firstly the sensing tasks and the potential sensor network applications are explored, and assessment of factors influencing the design of sensor networks is provided. In our propose work using data compression and packet merging techniques; or taking advantage of the correlation in the sensor readings. Consider continuous monitoring applications where perfect aggregation is achievable, i.e., every node is capable of aggregate the entire packets expected from its children as well as that generate by itself into a particular packet before transmit in the direction of its sink node or base station or parent node. Keyword: Aggregation, Data Converge-cast, Data fusion, Energy Efficiency, Routing and TDMA