9,503 research outputs found
Robotic Wireless Sensor Networks
In this chapter, we present a literature survey of an emerging, cutting-edge,
and multi-disciplinary field of research at the intersection of Robotics and
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) which we refer to as Robotic Wireless Sensor
Networks (RWSN). We define a RWSN as an autonomous networked multi-robot system
that aims to achieve certain sensing goals while meeting and maintaining
certain communication performance requirements, through cooperative control,
learning and adaptation. While both of the component areas, i.e., Robotics and
WSN, are very well-known and well-explored, there exist a whole set of new
opportunities and research directions at the intersection of these two fields
which are relatively or even completely unexplored. One such example would be
the use of a set of robotic routers to set up a temporary communication path
between a sender and a receiver that uses the controlled mobility to the
advantage of packet routing. We find that there exist only a limited number of
articles to be directly categorized as RWSN related works whereas there exist a
range of articles in the robotics and the WSN literature that are also relevant
to this new field of research. To connect the dots, we first identify the core
problems and research trends related to RWSN such as connectivity,
localization, routing, and robust flow of information. Next, we classify the
existing research on RWSN as well as the relevant state-of-the-arts from
robotics and WSN community according to the problems and trends identified in
the first step. Lastly, we analyze what is missing in the existing literature,
and identify topics that require more research attention in the future
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Modelling the Spread of Botnet Malware in IoT-Based Wireless Sensor Networks
The propagation approach of a botnet largely dictates its formation, establishing a foundation of bots for future exploitation. The chosen propagation method determines the attack surface, and consequently, the degree of network penetration, as well as the overall size and the eventual attack potency. It is therefore essential to understand propagation behaviours and influential factors in order to better secure vulnerable systems. Whilst botnet propagation is generally well-studied, newer technologies like IoT have unique characteristics which are yet to be thoroughly explored. In this paper, we apply the principles of epidemic modelling to IoT networks consisting of wireless sensor nodes. We build IoT-SIS, a novel propagation model which considers the impact of IoT-specific characteristics like limited processing power, energy restrictions, and node density on the formation of a botnet. Focusing on worm-based propagation, this model is used to explore the dynamics of spread using numerical simulations and the Monte Carlo method, and to discuss the real-life implications of our findings
Networking - A Statistical Physics Perspective
Efficient networking has a substantial economic and societal impact in a
broad range of areas including transportation systems, wired and wireless
communications and a range of Internet applications. As transportation and
communication networks become increasingly more complex, the ever increasing
demand for congestion control, higher traffic capacity, quality of service,
robustness and reduced energy consumption require new tools and methods to meet
these conflicting requirements. The new methodology should serve for gaining
better understanding of the properties of networking systems at the macroscopic
level, as well as for the development of new principled optimization and
management algorithms at the microscopic level. Methods of statistical physics
seem best placed to provide new approaches as they have been developed
specifically to deal with non-linear large scale systems. This paper aims at
presenting an overview of tools and methods that have been developed within the
statistical physics community and that can be readily applied to address the
emerging problems in networking. These include diffusion processes, methods
from disordered systems and polymer physics, probabilistic inference, which
have direct relevance to network routing, file and frequency distribution, the
exploration of network structures and vulnerability, and various other
practical networking applications.Comment: (Review article) 71 pages, 14 figure
Performance Modelling and Optimisation of Multi-hop Networks
A major challenge in the design of large-scale networks is to predict and optimise the
total time and energy consumption required to deliver a packet from a source node to a
destination node. Examples of such complex networks include wireless ad hoc and sensor
networks which need to deal with the effects of node mobility, routing inaccuracies, higher
packet loss rates, limited or time-varying effective bandwidth, energy constraints, and the
computational limitations of the nodes. They also include more reliable communication
environments, such as wired networks, that are susceptible to random failures, security
threats and malicious behaviours which compromise their quality of service (QoS) guarantees.
In such networks, packets traverse a number of hops that cannot be determined
in advance and encounter non-homogeneous network conditions that have been largely
ignored in the literature. This thesis examines analytical properties of packet travel in
large networks and investigates the implications of some packet coding techniques on both
QoS and resource utilisation.
Specifically, we use a mixed jump and diffusion model to represent packet traversal
through large networks. The model accounts for network non-homogeneity regarding
routing and the loss rate that a packet experiences as it passes successive segments of a
source to destination route. A mixed analytical-numerical method is developed to compute
the average packet travel time and the energy it consumes. The model is able to capture
the effects of increased loss rate in areas remote from the source and destination, variable
rate of advancement towards destination over the route, as well as of defending against
malicious packets within a certain distance from the destination. We then consider sending
multiple coded packets that follow independent paths to the destination node so as to
mitigate the effects of losses and routing inaccuracies. We study a homogeneous medium
and obtain the time-dependent properties of the packet’s travel process, allowing us to
compare the merits and limitations of coding, both in terms of delivery times and energy
efficiency. Finally, we propose models that can assist in the analysis and optimisation
of the performance of inter-flow network coding (NC). We analyse two queueing models
for a router that carries out NC, in addition to its standard packet routing function. The
approach is extended to the study of multiple hops, which leads to an optimisation problem
that characterises the optimal time that packets should be held back in a router, waiting
for coding opportunities to arise, so that the total packet end-to-end delay is minimised
Supporting Cyber-Physical Systems with Wireless Sensor Networks: An Outlook of Software and Services
Sensing, communication, computation and control technologies are the essential building blocks of a cyber-physical system (CPS). Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are a way to support CPS as they provide fine-grained spatial-temporal sensing, communication and computation at a low premium of cost and power. In this article, we explore the fundamental concepts guiding the design and implementation of WSNs. We report the latest developments in WSN software and services for meeting existing requirements and newer demands; particularly in the areas of: operating system, simulator and emulator, programming abstraction, virtualization, IP-based communication and security, time and location, and network monitoring and management. We also reflect on the ongoing
efforts in providing dependable assurances for WSN-driven CPS. Finally, we report on its applicability with a case-study on smart buildings
A contrasting look at self-organization in the Internet and next-generation communication networks
This article examines contrasting notions of self-organization in the Internet and next-generation communication networks, by reviewing in some detail recent evidence regarding several of the more popular attempts to explain prominent features of Internet structure and behavior as "emergent phenomena." In these examples, what might appear to the nonexpert as "emergent self-organization" in the Internet actually results from well conceived (albeit perhaps ad hoc) design, with explanations that are mathematically rigorous, in agreement with engineering reality, and fully consistent with network measurements. These examples serve as concrete starting points from which networking researchers can assess whether or not explanations involving self-organization are relevant or appropriate in the context of next-generation communication networks, while also highlighting the main differences between approaches to self-organization that are rooted in engineering design vs. those inspired by statistical physics
Renormalization group theory for percolation in time-varying networks
Motivated by multi-hop communication in unreliable wireless networks, we
present a percolation theory for time-varying networks. We develop a
renormalization group theory for a prototypical network on a regular grid,
where individual links switch stochastically between active and inactive
states. The question whether a given source node can communicate with a
destination node along paths of active links is equivalent to a percolation
problem. Our theory maps the temporal existence of multi-hop paths on an
effective two-state Markov process. We show analytically how this Markov
process converges towards a memory-less Bernoulli process as the hop distance
between source and destination node increases. Our work extends classical
percolation theory to the dynamic case and elucidates temporal correlations of
message losses. Quantification of temporal correlations has implications for
the design of wireless communication and control protocols, e.g. in
cyber-physical systems such as self-organized swarms of drones or smart traffic
networks.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
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