Autonomous Sensor Networks


Book Description

This volume surveys recent research on autonomous sensor networks from the perspective of enabling technologies that support medical, environmental and military applications. State of the art, as well as emerging concepts in wireless sensor networks, body area networks and ambient assisted living introduce the reader to the field, while subsequent chapters deal in depth with established and related technologies, which render their implementation possible. These range from smart textiles and printed electronic devices to implanted devices and specialized packaging, including the most relevant technological features. The last four chapters are devoted to customization, implementation difficulties and outlook for these technologies in specific applications.




Wireless Communication Networks Supported by Autonomous UAVs and Mobile Ground Robots


Book Description

Wireless Communication Networks Supported by Autonomous UAVs and Mobile Ground Robots covers wireless sensor networks and cellular networks. For wireless sensor networks, the book presents approaches using mobile robots or UAVs to collect sensory data from sensor nodes. For cellular networks, it discusses the approaches to using UAVs to work as aerial base stations to serve cellular users. In addition, the book covers the challenges involved in these two networks, existing approaches (e.g., how to use the public transportation vehicles to play the role of mobile sinks to collect sensory data from sensor nodes), and potential methods to address open questions. - Gives a comprehensive understanding of the development of mobile robot-supported wireless communication approaches - Provides the latest approaches of mobile robot-supported wireless communication, including scheduling approaches with multiple robots and the online and reactive navigation algorithm - Covers interesting research scenarios that include the system model, problem statement, solution and results so that readers will be able to design their own system - Presents unresolved research issues and future research directions




Self-Organization in Sensor and Actor Networks


Book Description

Self-Organization in Sensor and Actor Networks explores self-organization mechanisms and methodologies concerning the efficient coordination between intercommunicating autonomous systems.Self-organization is often referred to as the multitude of algorithms and methods that organise the global behaviour of a system based on inter-system communication. Studies of self-organization in natural systems first took off in the 1960s. In technology, such approaches have become a hot research topic over the last 4-5 years with emphasis upon management and control in communication networks, and especially in resource-constrained sensor and actor networks. In the area of ad hoc networks new solutions have been discovered that imitate the properties of self-organization. Some algorithms for on-demand communication and coordination, including data-centric networking, are well-known examples. Key features include: Detailed treatment of self-organization, mobile sensor and actor networks, coordination between autonomous systems, and bio-inspired networking. Overview of the basic methodologies for self-organization, a comparison to central and hierarchical control, and classification of algorithms and techniques in sensor and actor networks. Explanation of medium access control, ad hoc routing, data-centric networking, synchronization, and task allocation issues. Introduction to swarm intelligence, artificial immune system, molecular information exchange. Numerous examples and application scenarios to illustrate the theory. Self-Organization in Sensor and Actor Networks will prove essential reading for students of computer science and related fields; researchers working in the area of massively distributed systems, sensor networks, self-organization, and bio-inspired networking will also find this reference useful.




Powering Autonomous Sensors


Book Description

Autonomous sensors transmit data and power their electronics without using cables. They can be found in e.g. wireless sensor networks (WSNs) or remote acquisition systems. Although primary batteries provide a simple design for powering autonomous sensors, they present several limitations such as limited capacity and power density, and difficulty in predicting their condition and state of charge. An alternative is to extract energy from the ambient (energy harvesting). However, the reduced dimensions of most autonomous sensors lead to a low level of available power from the energy transducer. Thus, efficient methods and circuits to manage and gather the energy are a must. An integral approach for powering autonomous sensors by considering both primary batteries and energy harvesters is presented. Two rather different forms of energy harvesting are also dealt with: optical (or solar) and radiofrequency (RF). Optical energy provides high energy density, especially outdoors, whereas RF remote powering is possibly the most feasible option for autonomous sensors embedded into the soil or within structures. Throughout different chapters, devices such as primary and secondary batteries, supercapacitors, and energy transducers are extensively reviewed. Then, circuits and methods found in the literature used to efficiently extract and gather the energy are presented. Finally, new proposals based on the authors’ own research are analyzed and tested. Every chapter is written to be rather independent, with each incorporating the relevant literature references. Powering Autonomous Sensors is intended for a wide audience working on or interested in the powering of autonomous sensors. Researchers and engineers can find a broad introduction to basic topics in this interesting and emerging area as well as further insights on the topics of solar and RF harvesting and of circuits and methods to maximize the power extracted from energy transducers.




Wireless Power Transmission for Sustainable Electronics


Book Description

Provides a collection of works produced by COST Action IC1301 with the goal of achieving significant advances in the field of wireless power transmission This book constitutes together information from COST Action IC1301, a group of academic and industry experts seeking to align research efforts in the field of wireless power transmission (WPT). It begins with a discussion of backscatter as a solution for Internet of Things (IoT) devices and goes on to describe ambient backscattering sensors that use FM broadcasting for low cost and low power wireless applications. The book also explores localization of passive RFID tags and augmented tags using nonlinearities of RFID chips. It concludes with a review of methods of electromagnetic characterization of textile materials for the development of wearable antennas. Wireless Power Transmission for Sustainable Electronics: COST WiPE - IC1301 covers textile-supported wireless energy transfer, and reviews methods for the electromagnetic characterization of textile materials for the development of wearable antennas. It also looks at: backscatter RFID sensor systems for remote health monitoring; simultaneous localization (of robots and objects) and mapping (SLAM); autonomous system of wireless power distribution for static and moving nodes of wireless sensor networks; and more. Presents techniques for smart beam-forming for "on demand" wireless power transmission (WPT) Discusses RF and microwave energy harvesting for space applications Describes miniaturized RFID transponders for object identification and sensing Wireless Power Transmission for Sustainable Electronics: COST WiPE - IC1301 is an excellent book for both graduate students and industry engineers involved in wireless communications and power transfer, and sustainable materials for those fields.




Fundamentals of Wireless Sensor Networks


Book Description

In this book, the authors describe the fundamental concepts and practical aspects of wireless sensor networks. The book provides a comprehensive view to this rapidly evolving field, including its many novel applications, ranging from protecting civil infrastructure to pervasive health monitoring. Using detailed examples and illustrations, this book provides an inside track on the current state of the technology. The book is divided into three parts. In Part I, several node architectures, applications and operating systems are discussed. In Part II, the basic architectural frameworks, including the key building blocks required for constructing large-scale, energy-efficient sensor networks are presented. In Part III, the challenges and approaches pertaining to local and global management strategies are presented – this includes topics on power management, sensor node localization, time synchronization, and security. At the end of each chapter, the authors provide practical exercises to help students strengthen their grip on the subject. There are more than 200 exercises altogether. Key Features: Offers a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical and practical concepts pertaining to wireless sensor networks Explains the constraints and challenges of wireless sensor network design; and discusses the most promising solutions Provides an in-depth treatment of the most critical technologies for sensor network communications, power management, security, and programming Reviews the latest research results in sensor network design, and demonstrates how the individual components fit together to build complex sensing systems for a variety of application scenarios Includes an accompanying website containing solutions to exercises (http://www.wiley.com/go/dargie_fundamentals) This book serves as an introductory text to the field of wireless sensor networks at both graduate and advanced undergraduate level, but it will also appeal to researchers and practitioners wishing to learn about sensor network technologies and their application areas, including environmental monitoring, protection of civil infrastructure, health care, precision agriculture, traffic control, and homeland security.




Distributed Sensor Networks


Book Description

Distributed Sensor Networks is the first book of its kind to examine solutions to this problem using ideas taken from the field of multiagent systems. The field of multiagent systems has itself seen an exponential growth in the past decade, and has developed a variety of techniques for distributed resource allocation. Distributed Sensor Networks contains contributions from leading, international researchers describing a variety of approaches to this problem based on examples of implemented systems taken from a common distributed sensor network application; each approach is motivated, demonstrated and tested by way of a common challenge problem. The book focuses on both practical systems and their theoretical analysis, and is divided into three parts: the first part describes the common sensor network challenge problem; the second part explains the different technical approaches to the common challenge problem; and the third part provides results on the formal analysis of a number of approaches taken to address the challenge problem.




Handling Priority Inversion in Time-Constrained Distributed Databases


Book Description

In the computer science industry, high levels of performance remain the focal point in software engineering. This quest has made current systems exceedingly complex, as practitioners strive to discover novel approaches to increase the capabilities of modern computer structures. A prevalent area of research in recent years is scalable transaction processing and its usage in large databases and cloud computing. Despite its popularity, there remains a need for significant research in the understanding of scalability and its performance within distributed databases. Handling Priority Inversion in Time-Constrained Distributed Databases provides emerging research exploring the theoretical and practical aspects of database transaction processing frameworks and improving their performance using modern technologies and algorithms. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as consistency mechanisms, real-time systems, and replica management, this book is ideally designed for IT professionals, computing specialists, developers, researchers, data engineers, executives, academics, and students seeking research on current trends and developments in distributed computing and databases.




Energy-Aware System Design


Book Description

Power consumption becomes the most important design goal in a wide range of electronic systems. There are two driving forces towards this trend: continuing device scaling and ever increasing demand of higher computing power. First, device scaling continues to satisfy Moore’s law via a conventional way of scaling (More Moore) and a new way of exploiting the vertical integration (More than Moore). Second, mobile and IT convergence requires more computing power on the silicon chip than ever. Cell phones are now evolving towards mobile PC. PCs and data centers are becoming commodities in house and a must in industry. Both supply enabled by device scaling and demand triggered by the convergence trend realize more computation on chip (via multi-core, integration of diverse functionalities on mobile SoCs, etc.) and finally more power consumption incurring power-related issues and constraints. Energy-Aware System Design: Algorithms and Architectures provides state-of-the-art ideas for low power design methods from circuit, architecture to software level and offers design case studies in three fast growing areas of mobile storage, biomedical and security. Important topics and features: - Describes very recent advanced issues and methods for energy-aware design at each design level from circuit and architecture to algorithm level, and also covering important blocks including low power main memory subsystem and on-chip network at architecture level - Explains efficient power conversion and delivery which is becoming important as heterogeneous power sources are adopted for digital and non-digital parts - Investigates 3D die stacking emphasizing temperature awareness for better perspective on energy efficiency - Presents three practical energy-aware design case studies; novel storage device (e.g., solid state disk), biomedical electronics (e.g., cochlear and retina implants), and wireless surveillance camera systems. Researchers and engineers in the field of hardware and software design will find this book an excellent starting point to catch up with the state-of-the-art ideas of low power design.




Designing Wireless Sensor Network Solutions for Tactical ISR


Book Description

This comprehensive resource demonstrates how wireless sensor network (WSN) systems, a key element of the Internet of Things (IoT), are designed and evaluated to solve problems associated with autonomous sensing systems. Functional blocks that form WSN-based systems are described, chapter by chapter, providing the reader with a progressive learning path through all aspects of designing remote sensing capabilities using a WSN-based system. The development and a full description of fundamental performance equations and technological solutions required by these real-time systems are included. This book explores the objectives and goals associated with tactical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (T-ISR) missions. Readers gain insight into the correlation between fine-grained sensor resolution associated with WSN-based system complexities and the difficult requirements associated with T-ISR missions. The book demonstrates how to wield emergent technologies to arrive at reliable and robust wireless networking for T-ISR and associated tasks using low-cost, low-power persistent sensor nodes. WSN is broken down into constituent subsystems, key components, functional descriptions, and attendant mathematical descriptions. This resource explains how the design of each element can be approached and successfully integrated into a viable and responsive sensor system that is autonomous, adaptable to mission objectives and environments, and deployable worldwide. It also provides examples of what not to do based on lessons learned from past (and current) systems that failed to provide end users with the required information. Chapters are linked together, in order of system assembly (concepts to operation), to provide the reader with a full toolset that can help deliver versatility in design decisions, solutions, and understanding of such systems, end to end.