Wireless communication protocol architectures for nanosensor networks

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2004Recent developments in micro fabrication and nanotechnology will enable the inexpensive manufacturing of massive numbers of tiny computing elements with sensors. New programming paradigms are required to obtain organized and coherent behavior from the cooperation of large numbers of sensor nodes. The individual nodes are identical, randomly placed and unreliable. They communicate with a small local neighborhood via wireless broadcast. In such environments, where individual nodes have limited resources, aggregating the node into groups is useful for specialization, increased robustness, and efficient resource allocation. In this paper, an application-specific self-organization protocol stack is developed. The clustering process is divided into phases. The first phase is to know the neighbor nodes. The second phase is to set up the cluster and routing. A 'find maximum clique algorithm' is used to set up clusters. A back off method is used to set up the hop field and routing. Group leaders set up a TDMA schedule for steady state operation. This schedule ensures that there is no conflict among in the same cluster and between clusters. Direct-sequence spread spectrum (DS-SS) is used to avoid inter-group conflict. The limited power resource is a challenge in nanosensor networks. This paper uses two different ways to analyze energy consumed in nanosensor networks, energy cost field and bit flow method. Sensor node deployment, cluster size, and propagation condition effect are discussed in this paper by those two methods respectively

Effect of steel fibre volume fraction on thermal performance of lightweight foamed mortar (LFM) at ambient temperature

Lightweight foamed mortar (LFM) has grow into utmost commercial building material in the construction industry for non-structural and semi-structural applications owing to its reduced self-weight, flowability, stability and excellent thermal insulation properties. Hence, this study was conducted with the aims to develop an alternative for conventional concrete bricks and blocks for non-structural and semi-structural applications of masonry. Lightweight foamed mortar (LFM) is either a cement paste or mortar, relegated as lightweight concrete, in which suitable foaming agent entraps the air-voids in mortar. It therefore has a wide range of applications such as material for wall blocks or panels, floor & roof screeds, trench reinstatement, road foundations and voids filling. This research focuses on experimental investigation of thermal properties of LFM with inclusion of relatively low volume fraction (0.2% and 0.4%) of steel fibre at ambient temperature. There are three parameters will be scrutinized such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity as well as the specific heat capacity. There are two densities of 600kg/m3 and 1200kg/m3 had been cast and tested. The mix design proportion of LFM used for cement, aggregate and water ratio was 1: 1.5:0.45. The experimental results had indicated that the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and specific heat value slightly higher than control mix due to the addition of steel fibres. For instance, thermal conductivity, diffusivity and specific heat of 600 kg/m3 density control mix were 0.212W/mK, 0.477mm2/s and 545 J/kg◦C respectively. When 0.2% volume fraction of steel fiber was added in the mix of 600 kg/m3 density, the value of thermal conductivity, diffusivity and specific heat were increased to 0.235W/mK, 0.583mm2/s and 578 J/kg◦C correspondingly. This is due to the characteristic of the steel fibre application in which steel fibre is good as heat conductor and excellent in absorbing heat. Therefore there is a potential of utilizing steel fiber in cement based material like LFM for components that needs excellent heat absorption capacity

Wireless industrial monitoring and control networks: the journey so far and the road ahead

While traditional wired communication technologies have played a crucial role in industrial monitoring and control networks over the past few decades, they are increasingly proving to be inadequate to meet the highly dynamic and stringent demands of today’s industrial applications, primarily due to the very rigid nature of wired infrastructures. Wireless technology, however, through its increased pervasiveness, has the potential to revolutionize the industry, not only by mitigating the problems faced by wired solutions, but also by introducing a completely new class of applications. While present day wireless technologies made some preliminary inroads in the monitoring domain, they still have severe limitations especially when real-time, reliable distributed control operations are concerned. This article provides the reader with an overview of existing wireless technologies commonly used in the monitoring and control industry. It highlights the pros and cons of each technology and assesses the degree to which each technology is able to meet the stringent demands of industrial monitoring and control networks. Additionally, it summarizes mechanisms proposed by academia, especially serving critical applications by addressing the real-time and reliability requirements of industrial process automation. The article also describes certain key research problems from the physical layer communication for sensor networks and the wireless networking perspective that have yet to be addressed to allow the successful use of wireless technologies in industrial monitoring and control networks

QoS driven distributed multi-channel scheduling MAC protocol for multihop WSNs

Multi-Channel Dynamic Scheduling has been centric stage of research in WSNs in recent years. In this paper, we propose a Distributed Multi-Channel Scheduling MAC communication protocol (DMS-MAC) to improve the network performance of WSNs, which selects the best channel for an individual wireless sensor node. DMS-MAC supports dynamic channel assignment mechanism where each sensor node is equipped with a directional antennas. The proposed protocol helps to decrease the probability of collision, interferences and improves the overall network performance of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The protocol is most suitable for short packet transmission under low traffic networks and has ability to utilize parallel transmission among neighboring nodes and achieves increased energy efficiency when multi-channels are available. Simulation result shows that the proposed protocol improves the performance of aggregate throughput, probability of successful transmission, packet delivery ratio, energy consumption and average end-to-end delay

Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Guiding readers through the basics of these rapidly emerging networks to more advanced concepts and future expectations, Mobile Ad hoc Networks: Current Status and Future Trends identifies and examines the most pressing research issues in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). Containing the contributions of leading researchers, industry professionals, and academics, this forward-looking reference provides an authoritative perspective of the state of the art in MANETs. The book includes surveys of recent publications that investigate key areas of interest such as limited resources and the mobility of mobile nodes. It considers routing, multicast, energy, security, channel assignment, and ensuring quality of service. Also suitable as a text for graduate students, the book is organized into three sections: Fundamentals of MANET Modeling and Simulation—Describes how MANETs operate and perform through simulations and models Communication Protocols of MANETs—Presents cutting-edge research on key issues, including MAC layer issues and routing in high mobility Future Networks Inspired By MANETs—Tackles open research issues and emerging trends Illustrating the role MANETs are likely to play in future networks, this book supplies the foundation and insight you will need to make your own contributions to the field. It includes coverage of routing protocols, modeling and simulations tools, intelligent optimization techniques to multicriteria routing, security issues in FHAMIPv6, connecting moving smart objects to the Internet, underwater sensor networks, wireless mesh network architecture and protocols, adaptive routing provision using Bayesian inference, and adaptive flow control in transport layer using genetic algorithms