Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks: Algorithms and Protocols for Scalable Coordination and Data Communication

BRIEF OUTLINE OF THIS BOOK

This book consists of 10 chapters. It begins with an introductory chapter that describes various scenarios where sensor and actuator networks may be applied, problems at physical, medium access, network, and transport layers, and various application layer tools for enabling applications. It argues for the use of localized algorithms, and discusses the generation of sensor and actuator networks for simulation purposes.

Chapter 2 discusses backbones as subsets of sensors or actuators that suffice for performing basic data communication operations. They are applied for energy-efficient data dissemination tasks. The goal is to minimize the number of re-broadcasts while attempting to deliver messages to all sensors or actuators. Neighbor detection and route discovery algorithms that consider a realistic physical layer are described. An adaptive broadcasting protocol without parameters, suitable for delay-tolerant networks, is further discussed. We also survey existing solutions for the minimal energy broadcasting problem where nodes can adjust their transmission powers.

Sensor networks normally have redundancy for sensing coverage. Some sensors are allowed to sleep while preserving network functionality. Sensors should decide which of them should be active and monitor an area, and which of them may sleep and become active at a later time. Sensor area coverage problem has been considered for both the unit disk graph– and physical layer–based sensing models ...