State-of-the-Art Sensors Technology in Spain 2015: Volume 1

This book provides a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art sensors technology in specific leading areas. Industrial researchers, engineers and professionals can find information on the most advanced technologies and developments, together with data processing. Further research covers specific devices and technologies that capture and distribute data to be processed by applying dedicated techniques or procedures, which is where sensors play the most important role. The book provides insights and solutions for different problems covering a broad spectrum of possibilities, thanks to a set of applications and solutions based on sensory technologies. Topics include: • Signal analysis for spectral power • 3D precise measurements • Electromagnetic propagation • Drugs detection • e-health environments based on social sensor networks • Robots in wireless environments, navigation, teleoperation, object grasping, demining • Wireless sensor networks • Industrial IoT • Insights in smart cities • Voice recognition • FPGA interfaces • Flight mill device for measurements on insects • Optical systems: UV, LEDs, lasers, fiber optics • Machine vision • Power dissipation • Liquid level in fuel tanks • Parabolic solar tracker • Force sensors • Control for a twin roto

Design Methodology for Self-organized Mobile Networks Based

The methodology proposed in this article enables a systematic design of routing algorithms based on schemes of biclustering, which allows you to respond with timely techniques, clustering heuristics proposed by a researcher, and a focused approach to routing in the choice of clusterhead nodes. This process uses heuristics aimed at improving the different costs in communication surface groups called biclusters. This methodology globally enables a variety of techniques and heuristics of clustering that have been addressed in routing algorithms, but we have not explored all possible alternatives and their different assessments. Therefore, the methodology oriented design research of routing algorithms based on biclustering schemes will allow new concepts of evolutionary routing along with the ability to adapt the topological changes that occur in self-organized data networks

A dynamic distributed multi-channel TDMA slot management protocol for ad hoc networks

With the emergence of new technologies and standards for wireless communications and an increase in application and user requirements, the number and density of deployed wireless ad hoc networks is increasing. For deterministic ad hoc networks, Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is a popular medium access scheme, with many distributed TDMA scheduling algorithms being proposed. However, with increasing traffic demands and the number of wireless devices, proposed protocols are facing scalability issues. Besides, these protocols are achieving suboptimal spatial spectrum reuse as a result of the unsolved exposed node problem. Due to a shortage of available spectrum, a shift from fixed spectrum allocation to more dynamic spectrum sharing is anticipated. For dynamic spectrum sharing, improved distributed scheduling protocols are needed to increase spectral efficiency and support the coexistence of multiple co-located networks. Hence, in this paper, we propose a dynamic distributed multi-channel TDMA (DDMC-TDMA) slot management protocol based on control messages exchanged between one-hop network neighbors and execution of slot allocation and removal procedures between sender and receiver nodes. DDMC-TDMA is a topology-agnostic slot management protocol suitable for large-scale and high-density ad hoc networks. The performance of DDMC-TDMA has been evaluated for various topologies and scenarios in the ns-3 simulator. Simulation results indicate that DDMC-TDMA offers near-optimal spectrum utilization by solving both hidden and exposed node problems. Moreover, it proves to be a highly scalable protocol, showing no performance degradation for large-scale and high-density networks and achieving coexistence with unknown wireless networks operating in the same wireless domain

An ultra-low duty cycle sleep scheduling protocol stack for wireless sensor networks

A wireless sensor network is a distributed network system consisting of miniature spatially distributed autonomous devices designed for using sensors to sense the environment and cooperatively perform a specific goal. Each sensor node contains a limited power source, a sensor and a radio through which it can communicate with other sensor nodes within its communication radius. Since these sensor nodes may be deployed in inaccessible terrains, it might not be possible to replace their power sources. The radio transceiver is the hardware component that uses the most power in a sensor node and the optimisation of this element is necessary to reduce the overall energy consumption. In the data link layer there are several major sources of energy waste which should be minimised to achieve greater energy efficiency: idle listening, overhearing, over-emitting, network signalling overhead, and collisions. Sleep scheduling utilises the low-power sleep state of a transceiver and aims to reduce energy wastage caused by idle listening. Idle listening occurs when the radio is on, even though there is no data to transmit or receive. Collisions are reduced by using medium reservation and carrier sensing; collisions occur when there are simultaneous transmissions from several nodes that are within the interference range of the receiver node. The medium reservation packets include a network allocation vector field which is used for virtual carrier sensing which reduces overhearing. Overhearing occurs when a node receives and decodes packets that are not destined to it. Proper scheduling can avoid energy wastage due to over-emitting; over-emitting occurs when a transmitter node transmits a packet while the receiver node is not ready to receive packets. A protocol stack is proposed that achieves an ultra-low duty cycle sleep schedule. The protocol stack is aimed at large nodal populations, densely deployed, with periodic sampling applications. It uses the IEEE 802.15.4 Physical Layer (PHY) standard in the 2.4 GHz frequency band. A novel hybrid data-link/network cross-layer solution is proposed using the following features: a global sleep schedule, geographical data gathering tree, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) slotted architecture, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA), Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) with a randomised contention window, adaptive listening using a conservative timeout activation mechanism, virtual carrier sensing, clock drift compensation, and error control. AFRIKAANS : 'n Draadlose sensor-netwerk is 'n verspreide netwerk stelsel wat bestaan uit miniatuur ruimtelik verspreide outonome toestelle wat ontwerp is om in harmonie saam die omgewing te meet. Elke sensor nodus besit 'n beperkte bron van energie, 'n sensor en 'n radio waardeur dit met ander sensor nodusse binne hulle kommunikasie radius kan kommunikeer. Aangesien hierdie sensor nodusse in ontoeganklike terreine kan ontplooi word, is dit nie moontlik om hulle kragbronne te vervang nie. Die radio is die hardeware komponent wat van die meeste krag gebruik in 'n sensor nodus en die optimalisering van hierdie element is noodsaaklik vir die verminder die totale energieverbruik. In die data-koppelvlak laag is daar verskeie bronne van energie vermorsing wat minimaliseer moet word: ydele luister, a uistering, oor-uitstraling, oorhoofse netwerk seine, en botsings. Slaap-skedulering maak gebruik van die lae-krag slaap toestand van 'n radio met die doel om energie vermorsing wat veroorsaak word deur ydele luister, te verminder. Ydele luister vind plaas wanneer die radio aan is selfs al is daar geen data om te stuur of ontvang nie. Botsings word verminder deur medium bespreking en draer deteksie; botsings vind plaas wanneer verskeie nodusse gelyktydig data stuur. Die medium bespreking pakkies sluit 'n netwerk aanwysing vektor veld in wat gebruik word vir virtuele draer deteksie om a uistering te verminder. Afluistering vind plaas wanneer 'n nodus 'n pakkie ontvang en dekodeer maar dit was vir 'n ander nodus bedoel. Behoorlike skedulering kan energie verkwisting as gevolg van oor-uistraling verminder; oor-uistraling gebeur wanneer 'n sender nodus 'n pakkie stuur terwyl die ontvang nog nie gereed is nie. 'n Protokol stapel is voorgestel wat 'n ultra-lae slaap-skedule dienssiklus het. Die protokol is gemik op draadlose sensor-netwerke wat dig ontplooi, groot hoeveelhede nodusse bevat, en met periodiese toetsing toepassings. Dit maak gebruik van die IEEE 802.15.4 Fisiese-Laag standaard in die 2.4 GHz frekwensie band. 'n Nuwe baster datakoppelvlak/netwerk laag oplossing is voorgestel met die volgende kenmerke: globale slaap-skedulering, geogra ese data rapportering, Tyd-Verdeling-Veelvuldige-Toegang (TVVT) gegleufde argitektuur, Draer-Deteksie-Veelvuldige-Toegang met Botsing-Vermyding (DDVT/BV), Skoon-Kanaal-Assessering (SKA) met 'n wisselvallige twis-tydperk, aanpasbare slaap-skedulering met 'n konserwatiewe aktiverings meganisme, virtuele draer-deteksie, klok-wegdrywing kompensasie, en fout beheer. CopyrightDissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2012.Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineeringunrestricte

Channel quality estimation and impairment mitigation in 802.11 networks

Wireless communication has been boosted by the adoption of 802.11 as standard de facto for WLAN transmission. Born as a niche technology for providing wireless connectivity in small office/enterprise environments, 802.11 has in fact become a common and cheap access solution to the Internet, thanks to the large availability of wireless gateways (home modems, public hot-spots, community networks, and so on). Nowdays, the trend towards increasingly dense 802.11 wireless deployments is creating a real need for effective approaches for channel allocation/hopping, power control, etc. for interference mitigation while new applications such mesh networks in outdoor contexts and media distribution within the home are creating new quality of service demands that require more sophisticated approaches to radio resource allocation. The new framework of WLAN deployments require a complete understanding of channel quality at PHY and MAC layer. Goal of this thesis is to assess the MAC/PHY channel quality and mitigate the different channel impairments in 802.11 networks, both in dense/controlled indoor scenarios and emerging outdoor contexts. More specifically, chapter 1 deals with the necessary background material and gives insight into the different channel impairments/quality it can be encountered in WLAN networks. Then the thesis pursues a down/top approach: chapter 2, 3 and 4 aim at affording impairments/quality at PHY level, while chapter 5 and 6 analyse channel impairments/quality from a MAC level perspective. An important contribution of this thesis is to undisclose that some PHY layer parameters, such as the transmission power, the antenna selection, and interference mitigation scheme, have a deep impact on network performance. Since the criteria for selecting these parameters is left to the vendor specific implementations, the performance spread of most experimental results about 802.11 WLAN could be affected by vendor proprietary schemes. Particularly, in chapter 2 we find that switching transmit diversity mechanisms implemented in off-the-shelf devices with two antenna connectors can dramatically affect both performance and link quality probing mechanisms in outdoor medium-range WLAN deployments, whenever one antenna deterministically works worse than the other one. A second physical algorithm with side-effects is shown in chapter 3. Particulary the chapter shows that interference mitigation algorithms may play havoc with the link-level testbeds, since they may erroneously lower the sensitivity threshold, and thus not detect the 802.11 transmit sources. Finally, once disabled the interference mitigation algorithm — as well as any switching diversity scheme described in the previous chapter — link-level experimental assessment concludes that, unlike 802.11b, which appears a robust technology in most of the operational conditions, 802.11g may lead to inefficiencies when employed in an outdoor scenario, due to the lower multi-path tolerance of 802.11g. Since multipath is hard to predict, a novel mechanism to improve the link-distance estimation accuracy — based on CPU clock information — is outlined in chapter 4. The proposed methodology can not only be applied in localization context, but also for estimating the multi-path profile. The second part of the thesis moves the perspective to the MAC point of view and its impairments. Particularly, chapter 5 provides the design of a MAC channel quality estimator to distinguish the different types of MAC impairments and gives separate quantitative measures of the severity of each one. Since the estimator takes advantage of the native characteristics of the 802.11 protocol, the approach is suited to implementation on commodity hardware and makes available new measures that can be of direct use for rate adaptation, channel allocation, etc. Then, chapter 6 introduces a previous unknown phenomenon, the Hidden ACK, that may cause frame losses into multiple WLAN networks when a node replies with an ACK frame. Again, a solution is provided without requiring any modification to the 802.11 protocol. Whenever possible, the quantitative analysis has been led through experimental assessments with implementation on commodity hardware. This was the adopted methodology in chapter 2, 3, 4 and 5. Particularly, this has required an accurate investigation of two brands of WLAN cards, particularly the Atheros and Intel cards, and their driver/firmware, respectively MADWiFi and IPW2200, which are currently the most adopted, respectively, by researchers and layman users

Innovative energy-efficient wireless sensor network applications and MAC sub-layer protocols employing RTS-CTS with packet concatenation

of energy-efficiency as well as the number of available applications. As a consequence there are challenges that need to be tackled for the future generation of WSNs. The research work from this Ph.D. thesis has involved the actual development of innovative WSN applications contributing to different research projects. In the Smart-Clothing project contributions have been given in the development of a Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) to monitor the foetal movements of a pregnant woman in the last four weeks of pregnancy. The creation of an automatic wireless measurement system for remotely monitoring concrete structures was an contribution for the INSYSM project. This was accomplished by using an IEEE 802.15.4 network enabling for remotely monitoring the temperature and humidity within civil engineering structures. In the framework of the PROENEGY-WSN project contributions have been given in the identification the spectrum opportunities for Radio Frequency (RF) energy harvesting through power density measurements from 350 MHz to 3 GHz. The design of the circuits to harvest RF energy and the requirements needed for creating a WBAN with electromagnetic energy harvesting and Cognitive Radio (CR) capabilities have also been addressed. A performance evaluation of the state-of-the art of the hardware WSN platforms has also been addressed. This is explained by the fact that, even by using optimized Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols, if the WSNs platforms do not allow for minimizing the energy consumption in the idle and sleeping states, energy efficiency and long network lifetime will not be achieved. The research also involved the development of new innovative mechanisms that tries and solves overhead, one of the fundamental reasons for the IEEE 802.15.4 standard MAC inefficiency. In particular, this Ph.D. thesis proposes an IEEE 802.15.4 MAC layer performance enhancement by employing RTS/CTS combined with packet concatenation. The results have shown that the use of the RTS/CTS mechanism improves channel efficiency by decreasing the deferral time before transmitting a data packet. In addition, the Sensor Block Acknowledgment MAC (SBACK-MAC) protocol has been proposed that allows the aggregation of several acknowledgment responses in one special Block Acknowledgment (BACK) Response packet. Two different solutions are considered. The first one considers the SBACK-MAC protocol in the presence of BACK Request (concatenation) while the second one considers the SBACK-MAC in the absence of BACK Request (piggyback). The proposed solutions address a distributed scenario with single-destination and single-rate frame aggregation. The throughput and delay performance is mathematically derived under both ideal conditions (a channel environment with no transmission errors) and non ideal conditions (a channel environment with transmission errors). An analytical model is proposed, capable of taking into account the retransmission delays and the maximum number of backoff stages. The simulation results successfully validate our analytical model. For more than 7 TX (aggregated packets) all the MAC sub-layer protocols employing RTS/CTS with packet concatenation allows for the optimization of channel use in WSNs, v8-48 % improvement in the maximum average throughput and minimum average delay, and decrease energy consumption

Routing Strategies for Capacity Enhancement in Multi-hop Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

This thesis examines a Distributed Interference Impact Probing (DIIP) strategy for Wireless Ad hoc Networks (WANETs), using a novel cross-layer Minimum Impact Routing (MIR) protocol. Perfonnance is judged in tenns of interference reduction ratio, efficiency, and system and user capacity, which are calculated based on the measurement of Disturbed Nodes (DN). A large number of routing algorithms have been proposed with distinctive features aimed to overcome WANET's fundamental challenges, such as routing over a dynamic topology, scheduling broadcast signals using dynamic Media Access Control (MAC), and constraints on network scalability. However, the scalability problem ofWANET cannot simply adapt the frequency reuse mechanism designed for traditional stationary cellular networks due to the relay burden, and there is no single comprehensive algorithm proposed for it. DIIP enhances system and user capacity using a cross layer routing algorithm, MIR, using feedback from DIIP to balance transmit power in order to control hop length, which consequently changes the number of relays along the path. This maximizes the number of simultaneous transmitting nodes, and minimizes the interference impact, i.e. measured in tenns of 'disturbed nodes'. The perfonnance of MIR is examined compared with simple shortest-path routing. A WANET simulation model is configured to simulate both routing algorithms under multiple scenarios. The analysis has shown that once the transmitting range of a node changes, the total number of disturbed nodes along a path changes accordingly, hence the system and user capacity varies with interference impact variation. By carefully selecting a suitable link length, the neighbouring node density can be adjusted to reduce the total number of DN, and thereby allowing a higher spatial reuse ratio. In this case the system capacity can increase significantly as the number of nodes increases. In contrast, if the link length is chosen regardless ofthe negative impact of interference, capacity decreases. In addition, MIR diverts traffic from congested areas, such as the central part of a network or bottleneck points

On the influence of the hidden and exposed terminal problems on asynchronous IEEE 802.15.5 networks

Hidden and exposed terminal problems are known to negatively impact wireless communications, degrading potential computing services on top. These effects are more significant in Wireless Mesh Sensor Networks (WMSNs), and, particularly, in those based on the IEEE 802.15.5 Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Network (LR-WPAN mesh) standard, a promising solution for enabling low-power WMSNs. The first contribution of this paper is a quantitative evaluation of these problems under the IEEE 802.15.5 Asynchronous Energy Saving (ASES) mode, which is intended for asynchronous data-collection applications. The results obtained show a sharp deterioration of the network performance. Therefore, this paper also reviews the most relevant approaches that cope with these problems and are compatible with ASES. Finally, a set of these proposals is assessed to find out those more suitable for their potential integration with ASES, which constitutes the second major contribution of the paper