Wireless sensor networks have been increasingly used for real-time
surveillance over large areas. In such applications, it is important to support
end-to-end delay constraints for packet deliveries even when the corresponding
flows require multi-hop transmissions. In addition to delay constraints, each
flow of real-time surveillance may require some guarantees on throughput of
packets that meet the delay constraints. Further, as wireless sensor networks
are usually deployed in challenging environments, it is important to
specifically consider the effects of unreliable wireless transmissions.
In this paper, we study the problem of providing end-to-end delay guarantees
for multi-hop wireless networks. We propose a model that jointly considers the
end-to-end delay constraints and throughput requirements of flows, the need for
multi-hop transmissions, and the unreliable nature of wireless transmissions.
We develop a framework for designing feasibility-optimal policies. We then
demonstrate the utility of this framework by considering two types of systems:
one where sensors are equipped with full-duplex radios, and the other where
sensors are equipped with half-duplex radios. When sensors are equipped with
full-duplex radios, we propose an online distributed scheduling policy and
proves the policy is feasibility-optimal. We also provide a heuristic for
systems where sensors are equipped with half-duplex radios. We show that this
heuristic is still feasibility-optimal for some topologies