A framework for multimodal wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are a widely used solution for monitoring oriented applications (e.g., water quality on watersheds, pollution monitoring in cities). These kinds of applications are characterized by the necessity of two data-reporting modes: time-driven and event-driven. The former is used mainly for continually supervising an area and the latter for event detection and tracking. By switching between both modes, a WSN can improve its energy-efficiency and event reporting latency, compared to single data-reporting schemes. We refer to those WSNs, where both data-reporting modes are required simultaneously, as MultiModal Wireless Sensor Networks (M2WSNs).M2WSNs arise as a solution for the trade-off between energy savings and event reporting latency in those monitoring oriented applications where regular and emergency reporting are required simultaneously. The multimodality in these M2WSNs allows sensor nodes to perform data-reporting in two possible schemes, time-driven and event-driven, according to the circumstances, providing higher energy savings and better reporting results when compared to traditional schemes. Traditionally, sophisticated power-aware wake-up schemes have been employed to achieve energy efficiency in WSNs, such as low-duty cycling protocols using a single radio architecture. These protocols achieve good results regarding energy savings, but they suffer from idle-listening and overhearing issues, that make them not reliable for most ultra-low-power demanding applications, especially, those deployed in hostile and unattended environments. Currently, Wake-up Radio Receivers (WuRx) based protocols, under a dual-radio architecture and always-on operation, are emerging as a solution to overcome these issues, promising higher energy consumption reduction and reliability in terms of latency and packet-delivery-ratio compared to classic wake-up protocols. By combining different transceivers and reporting protocols regarding energy efficiency and reliability, multimodality in M2WSNs is achieved.This dissertation proposes a conceptual framework for M2WSNs that integrates the goodness of both data-reporting schemes and the Wake-up Radio (WuR) paradigm-data periodicity, responsiveness, and energy-efficiency-, that might be suitable for monitoring oriented applications with low bandwidth requirements, that operates under normal circumstances and emergencies. The framework follows a layered approach, where each layer aims to v fulfill specific tasks based on its information, the functions provided by its adjacent layers, and the information resulted from the cross-layer interactions. The main contributions of this dissertation are:• The concept of M2WSNs is introduced from the data-reporting perspective and a taxonomy of energy-efficient and responsive techniques for M2WSNs is proposed.• An energy consumption estimation model for M2WSNs is proposed that considers the behavior and performance of wake-up protocols based on WuRx in multi-hop communications. The model is compared to traditional lo...