MODESA: An optimized multichannel slot assignment for raw data convergecast in wireless sensor networks

International audienceIn aerospace applications, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) collect data from sensor nodes towards a sink in a multi-hop convergecast structure. The throughput requirement of these applications is difficult to meet with a single wireless channel. That is why, in this paper, we focus on a multichannel time slot assignment that minimizes the data gathering cycle. We first formalize the problem as a linear program and compute the optimal time needed for a raw data convergecast in various multichannel topologies. These optimal times apply to sinks equipped with one or several radio interfaces. We then propose our algorithm called MODESA and prove its optimality in various multichannel topologies. We evaluate its performances in terms of number of slots, maximum buffer size and number of active/sleep switches per node. Furthermore, we present variants of MODESA achieving a load balancing between the channels used

Bilayers of nucleosome core particles

Among the multiple effects involved in chromatin condensation and decondensation processes, interactions between nucleosome core particles are suspected to play a crucial role. We analyze them in the absence of linker DNA and added proteins, after the self-assembly of isolated nucleosome core particles under controlled ionic conditions. We describe an original lamellar mesophase forming tubules on the mesoscopic scale. High resolution imaging of cryosections of vitrified samples reveals how nucleosome core particles stack on top of one another into columns which themselves align to form bilayers that repel one another through a solvent layer. We deduce from this structural organization how the particles interact through attractive interactions between top and bottom faces and lateral polar interactions that originate in the heterogeneous charge distribution at the surface of the particle. These interactions, at work under conditions comparable with those found in the living cell, should be of importance in the mechanisms governing chromatin compaction in vivo

Delay Optimized Time Slot Assignment for Data Gathering Applications in Wireless Sensor Networks

International audienceWireless sensor networks, WSNs, are an efficient way to deal with low-rate communications in confined environments such as mines or nuclear power plants because of their simplicity of deployment and low cost. In these application domains, WSNs are used to gather data from sensor nodes towards a sink in a multi-hop convergecast structure. In this paper, we focus on a traffic-aware time slot assignment minimizing the schedule length for tree topologies and for two special deployments (i.e. linear and multi-linear) representative of unusual environments. We formalize the problem as a linear program and provide results on the optimal number of slots. We then propose a delay optimized algorithm with two heuristics that minimize on the one hand the energy consumption and on the other hand the storage capacity as secondary criteria

Multichannel access for bandwidth improvement in IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor networks

International audienceIn this paper, we propose a new multichannel allocation protocol for ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 networks. The main goal is to improve the global throughput which is basically insufficient to satisfy high bandwidth requirements for applications like monitoring or traffic control. The solution is based on the availability of multiple channels on current low- cost, low-energy radio transceivers, such as TI/Chipcon CC2420, which can be easily tuned dynamically to different frequencies. This possibility can be exploited to increase the number of simultaneous transmissions on adjacent links. The allocation of the different channels is centralized and distributed by the coordinator thanks to a function designed to compute the channel offset between two successive children routers. In the nodes, the switching process between the transmission and the reception channels is triggered starting from the PHY primitive available on the transceiver. The evaluation shows that the proposed protocol improves the global throughput by a factor between 2 and 5, depending on the scenario, compared to the single-channel solution or a random channel allocation

Defects in Chiral Columnar Phases: Tilt Grain Boundaries and Iterated Moire Maps

Biomolecules are often very long with a definite chirality. DNA, xanthan and poly-gamma-benzyl-glutamate (PBLG) can all form columnar crystalline phases. The chirality, however, competes with the tendency for crystalline order. For chiral polymers, there are two sorts of chirality: the first describes the usual cholesteric-like twist of the local director around a pitch axis, while the second favors the rotation of the local bond-orientational order and leads to a braiding of the polymers along an average direction. In the former case chirality can be manifested in a tilt grain boundary phase (TGB) analogous to the Renn-Lubensky phase of smectic-A liquid crystals. In the latter case we are led to a new "moire" state with twisted bond order. In the moire state polymers are simultaneously entangled, crystalline, and aligned, on average, in a common direction. In the moire state polymers are simultaneously entangled, crystalline, and aligned, on average, in a common direction. In this case the polymer trajectories in the plane perpendicular to their average direction are described by iterated moire maps of remarkable complexity, reminiscent of dynamical systems.Comment: plain TeX, (33 pages), 17 figures, some uufiled and included, the remaining available at ftp://ftp.sns.ias.edu/pub/kamien/ or by request to [email protected]

Polydispersity and ordered phases in solutions of rodlike macromolecules

We apply density functional theory to study the influence of polydispersity on the stability of columnar, smectic and solid ordering in the solutions of rodlike macromolecules. For sufficiently large length polydispersity (standard deviation $\sigma>0.25$) a direct first-order nematic-columnar transition is found, while for smaller $\sigma$ there is a continuous nematic-smectic and first-order smectic-columnar transition. For increasing polydispersity the columnar structure is stabilized with respect to solid perturbations. The length distribution of macromolecules changes neither at the nematic-smectic nor at the nematic-columnar transition, but it does change at the smectic-columnar phase transition. We also study the phase behaviour of binary mixtures, in which the nematic-smectic transition is again found to be continuous. Demixing according to rod length in the smectic phase is always preempted by transitions to solid or columnar ordering.Comment: 13 pages (TeX), 2 Postscript figures uuencode

Rods Near Curved Surfaces and in Curved Boxes

We consider an ideal gas of infinitely rigid rods near a perfectly repulsive wall, and show that the interfacial tension of a surface with rods on one side is lower when the surface bends towards the rods. Surprisingly we find that rods on both sides of surfaces also lower the energy when the surface bends. We compute the partition functions of rods confined to spherical and cylindrical open shells, and conclude that spherical shells repel rods, whereas cylindrical shells (for thickness of the shell on the order of the rod-length) attract them. The role of flexibility is investigated by considering chains composed of two rigid segments.Comment: 39 pages including figures and tables. 12 eps figures. LaTeX with REVTe

An Adaptive Strategy for an Optimized Collision-Free Slot Assignment in Multichannel Wireless Sensor Networks

International audienceConvergecast is the transmission paradigm used by data gathering applications in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). For efficiency reasons, a collision-free slotted medium access is typically used: time slots are assigned to non-conflicting transmitters. Furthermore, in any slot, only the transmitters and the corresponding receivers are awake, the other nodes sleeping in order to save energy. Since a multichannel network increases the throughput available to the application and reduces interference, multichannel slot assignment is an emerging research domain in WSNs. First, we focus on a multichannel time slot assignment that minimizes the data gathering delays. We compute the optimal time needed for a raw data convergecast in various multichannel topologies. Then, we focus on how to adapt such an assignment to dynamic demands of transmissions (e.g., alarms, temporary additional application needs and retransmissions). We formalize the problem using linear programming, and we propose an incremental technique that operates on an optimized primary schedule to provide bonus slots to meet new transmission needs. We propose AMSA, an Adaptive Multichannel Slot Assignment algorithm, which takes advantage of bandwidth spatial reuse, and we evaluate its performances in terms of the number of slots required, slot reuse, throughput and the number of radio state switches

DiSCA: a Distributed Scheduling for Convergecast in Multichannel Wireless Sensor Networks

International audience—The new IEEE 802.15.4e standard does not specify how the schedule of medium accesses followed by wireless sensors is built. That is why, we propose a distributed interference-aware joint channel and time slot assignment, called DiSCA, for a traffic-aware convergecast in multichannel wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Unlike most previous studies, we consider two cases of transmissions: without acknowledgment and with immediate acknowledgment. We provide the minimum bound on the number of time slots needed for a convergecast with a sink equipped with multiple radio interfaces. Simulations results show that DiSCA is close to the optimal in terms of the number of slots and outperforms TMCP