3,085 research outputs found
Markov Decision Processes with Applications in Wireless Sensor Networks: A Survey
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consist of autonomous and resource-limited
devices. The devices cooperate to monitor one or more physical phenomena within
an area of interest. WSNs operate as stochastic systems because of randomness
in the monitored environments. For long service time and low maintenance cost,
WSNs require adaptive and robust methods to address data exchange, topology
formulation, resource and power optimization, sensing coverage and object
detection, and security challenges. In these problems, sensor nodes are to make
optimized decisions from a set of accessible strategies to achieve design
goals. This survey reviews numerous applications of the Markov decision process
(MDP) framework, a powerful decision-making tool to develop adaptive algorithms
and protocols for WSNs. Furthermore, various solution methods are discussed and
compared to serve as a guide for using MDPs in WSNs
Energy efficient data collection and dissemination protocols in self-organised wireless sensor networks
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are used for event detection and data collection in
a plethora of environmental monitoring applications. However a critical factor limits
the extension of WSNs into new application areas: energy constraints. This thesis
develops self-organising energy efficient data collection and dissemination protocols in
order to support WSNs in event detection and data collection and thus extend the use
of sensor-based networks to many new application areas.
Firstly, a Dual Prediction and Probabilistic Scheduler (DPPS) is developed. DPPS
uses a Dual Prediction Scheme combining compression and load balancing techniques
in order to manage sensor usage more efficiently. DPPS was tested and evaluated
through computer simulations and empirical experiments. Results showed that DPPS
reduces energy consumption in WSNs by up to 35% while simultaneously maintaining
data quality and satisfying a user specified accuracy constraint.
Secondly, an Adaptive Detection-driven Ad hoc Medium Access Control (ADAMAC)
protocol is developed. ADAMAC limits the Data Forwarding Interruption problem
which causes increased end-to-end delay and energy consumption in multi-hop sensor
networks. ADAMAC uses early warning alarms to dynamically adapt the sensing
intervals and communication periods of a sensor according to the likelihood of any
new events occurring. Results demonstrated that compared to previous protocols such
as SMAC, ADAMAC dramatically reduces end-to-end delay while still limiting energy
consumption during data collection and dissemination. The protocols developed in this thesis, DPPS and ADAMAC, effectively alleviate
the energy constraints associated with WSNs and will support the extension of sensorbased
networks to many more application areas than had hitherto been readily possible
Computation-Communication Trade-offs and Sensor Selection in Real-time Estimation for Processing Networks
Recent advances in electronics are enabling substantial processing to be
performed at each node (robots, sensors) of a networked system. Local
processing enables data compression and may mitigate measurement noise, but it
is still slower compared to a central computer (it entails a larger
computational delay). However, while nodes can process the data in parallel,
the centralized computational is sequential in nature. On the other hand, if a
node sends raw data to a central computer for processing, it incurs
communication delay. This leads to a fundamental communication-computation
trade-off, where each node has to decide on the optimal amount of preprocessing
in order to maximize the network performance. We consider a network in charge
of estimating the state of a dynamical system and provide three contributions.
First, we provide a rigorous problem formulation for optimal real-time
estimation in processing networks in the presence of delays. Second, we show
that, in the case of a homogeneous network (where all sensors have the same
computation) that monitors a continuous-time scalar linear system, the optimal
amount of local preprocessing maximizing the network estimation performance can
be computed analytically. Third, we consider the realistic case of a
heterogeneous network monitoring a discrete-time multi-variate linear system
and provide algorithms to decide on suitable preprocessing at each node, and to
select a sensor subset when computational constraints make using all sensors
suboptimal. Numerical simulations show that selecting the sensors is crucial.
Moreover, we show that if the nodes apply the preprocessing policy suggested by
our algorithms, they can largely improve the network estimation performance.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figures. Accepted journal versio
ECOSENSE: An Energy Consumption Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks
AbstractThis paper ‘ECOSENSE’ proposes a medium access protocol derived for wireless sensor networks. Energy is a precious resource for wireless sensor networks, as sensor nodes are powered by small batteries. Various approaches have been proposed so far, to increase the life of wireless sensor networks. With the goal of developing a practical, efficient energy consumption protocol for wireless sensor networks, we introduced a threshold policy for the nodes in the entire network, where the sensors are distributed activated, whenever they are required. We calculated the life period of sensors and using priority levels and threshold values, we prolong the lifespan of sensor nodes. Scheduling is done according to the remaining life period of sensor nodes. We compare our algorithm with the existing S-MAC protocol and found considerably better due to its reconfigurable activation policy
Smart Grid communications in high traffic environments
The establishment of a previously non-existent data class known as the Smart Grid will pose many difficulties on current and future communication infrastructure. It is imperative that the Smart Grid (SG), as the reactionary and monitory arm of the Power Grid (PG), be able to communicate effectively between grid controllers and individual User Equipment (UE). By doing so, the successful implementation of SG applications can occur, including support for higher capacities of Renewable Energy Resources. As the SG matures, the number of UEs required is expected to rise increasing the traffic in an already burdened communications network. This thesis aims to optimally allocate radio resources such that the SG Quality of Service (QoS) requirements are satisfied with minimal effect on pre-existing traffic. To address this resource allocation problem, a Lotka-Volterra (LV) based resource allocation and scheduler was developed due to its ability to easily adapt to the dynamics of a telecommunications environment. Unlike previous resource allocation algorithms, the LV scheme allocated resources to each class as a function of its growth rate. By doing so, the QoS requirements of the SG were satisfied, with minimal effect on pre-existing traffic. Class queue latencies were reduced by intelligent scheduling of periodic traffic and forward allocation of resources. This thesis concludes that the SG will have a large effect on the telecommunications environment if not successfully controlled and monitored. This effect can be minimized by utilizing the proposed LV based resource allocation and scheduler system. Furthermore, it was shown that the allocation of periodic SG radio channels was optimized by continual updates of the LV model. This ensured the QoS requirements of the SG are achieved and provided enhanced performance. Successful integration of SG UEs in a wireless network can pave the way for increased capacity of Renewable and Intermittent Energy Resources operating on the PG
Socio-economic aware data forwarding in mobile sensing networks and systems
The vision for smart sustainable cities is one whereby urban sensing is core to optimising city
operation which in turn improves citizen contentment. Wireless Sensor Networks are envisioned
to become pervasive form of data collection and analysis for smart cities but deployment of
millions of inter-connected sensors in a city can be cost-prohibitive. Given the ubiquity and
ever-increasing capabilities of sensor-rich mobile devices, Wireless Sensor Networks with Mobile
Phones (WSN-MP) provide a highly flexible and ready-made wireless infrastructure for future
smart cities. In a WSN-MP, mobile phones not only generate the sensing data but also relay the
data using cellular communication or short range opportunistic communication. The largest
challenge here is the efficient transmission of potentially huge volumes of sensor data over
sometimes meagre or faulty communications networks in a cost-effective way.
This thesis investigates distributed data forwarding schemes in three types of WSN-MP: WSN
with mobile sinks (WSN-MS), WSN with mobile relays (WSN-HR) and Mobile Phone Sensing
Systems (MPSS). For these dynamic WSN-MP, realistic models are established and distributed
algorithms are developed for efficient network performance including data routing and forwarding,
sensing rate control and and pricing. This thesis also considered realistic urban sensing
issues such as economic incentivisation and demonstrates how social network and mobility
awareness improves data transmission. Through simulations and real testbed experiments, it
is shown that proposed algorithms perform better than state-of-the-art schemes.Open Acces
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