Distributed multimodal data fusion for large scale wireless sensor networks

Background: Many applications of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) require awareness of sensor node’s location but not every sensor node can be equipped with a GPS receiver for localization, due to cost and energy constraints especially for large-scale networks. For localization, many algorithms have been proposed to enable a sensor node to be able to determine its location by utilizing a small number of special nodes called anchors that are equipped with GPS receivers. In recent years a promising method that significantly reduces the cost is to replace the set of statically deployed GPS anchors with one mobile anchor node equipped with a GPS unit that moves to cover the entire network. Objectives: This paper proposes a novel static path planning mechanism that enables a single anchor node to follow a predefined static path while periodically broadcasting its current location coordinates to the nearby sensors. This new path type is called SQUARE_SPIRAL and it is specifically designed to reduce the collinearity during localization. Results: Simulation results show that the performance of SQUARE_SPIRAL mechanism is better than other static path planning methods with respect to multiple performance metrics. Conclusion: This work includes an extensive comparative study of the existing static path planning methods then presents a comparison of the proposed mechanism with existing solutions by doing extensive simulations in NS-2.

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Wireless Sensor Networks for Smart Cities: Network Design, Implementation and Performance Evaluation

Electronics ◽

10.3390/electronics10020218 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 218

Author(s):

Ala’ Khalifeh ◽

Khalid A. Darabkh ◽

Ahmad M. Khasawneh ◽

Issa Alqaisieh ◽

Mohammad Salameh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wireless Sensor Networks ◽

Sensor Networks ◽

Experimental Evaluation ◽

Large Scale ◽

Performance Metrics ◽

Smart Cities ◽

Field Tests ◽

Sensor Nodes ◽

Wireless Sensor ◽

Real Field

The advent of various wireless technologies has paved the way for the realization of new infrastructures and applications for smart cities. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are one of the most important among these technologies. WSNs are widely used in various applications in our daily lives. Due to their cost effectiveness and rapid deployment, WSNs can be used for securing smart cities by providing remote monitoring and sensing for many critical scenarios including hostile environments, battlefields, or areas subject to natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions, and floods or to large-scale accidents such as nuclear plants explosions or chemical plumes. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new framework where WSNs are adopted for remote sensing and monitoring in smart city applications. We propose using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to act as a data mule to offload the sensor nodes and transfer the monitoring data securely to the remote control center for further analysis and decision making. Furthermore, the paper provides insight about implementation challenges in the realization of the proposed framework. In addition, the paper provides an experimental evaluation of the proposed design in outdoor environments, in the presence of different types of obstacles, common to typical outdoor fields. The experimental evaluation revealed several inconsistencies between the performance metrics advertised in the hardware-specific data-sheets. In particular, we found mismatches between the advertised coverage distance and signal strength with our experimental measurements. Therefore, it is crucial that network designers and developers conduct field tests and device performance assessment before designing and implementing the WSN for application in a real field setting.

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