Poster abstract: Integrated distributed energy awareness for wireless sensor networks

Geoffrey Werner Challen, Jason Waterman, Matt Welsh

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Energy in sensor networks is distributed and non-transferable. Over time, differences in energy availability across the network are likely to arise. Protocols such as routing engines can concentrate energy load at certain nodes. Variations in incident sunlight can produce different solar charging rates at different nodes. Because many sensor network applications require nodes collaborate - - to ensure complete sensor coverage or route data to the network's edge - - a small set of nodes threatened by low energy availability can have a disproportionate impact on the entire network. For example, the loss of a single sink node may render the application unable to communicate with all the other nodes. However, network density provides redundancy that can be exploited to control the distribution of energy load. Multiple possible routing paths may link a node and the sink, or several sinks may exist. Adjusting MAC-level parameters may allow a node to conserve energy by forcing additional load on its neighbors. Inputs from multiple sensors may prove redundant to the application, allowing some sensors to be disabled or operated at reduced fidelity, saving power at those nodes. These choices imply that energy load can be tuned to match availability, and this tuning can extend the useful lifetime of the network. Effective distributed energy management requires network-wide awareness of energy availability and load integrated with algorithms guiding protocols toward states producing longer lifetimes or higher node duty-cycles. Intelligent Distributed Energy Awareness (IDEA) is a sensor network service that can be used by both protocols and applications. Given the current energy availability and a set of protocol states, each with different implications for network-wide energy consumption, IDEA projects future energy availability in order to make the best choice. By simplifying decisions impacting distributed energy availability, it facilitates the implementation of energy-aware services.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems, SenSys 2009
Pages381-382
Number of pages2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes
Event7th ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems, SenSys 2009 - Berkeley, CA, United States
Duration: Nov 4 2009Nov 6 2009

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems, SenSys 2009

Other

Other7th ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems, SenSys 2009
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBerkeley, CA
Period11/4/0911/6/09

Keywords

  • Optimization
  • Resource distribution
  • Resource management
  • Wireless sensor networks

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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