Practical methods for maximizing information transmission in wireless sensor networks

在无线传感器网络中，许多分布式节点观察到一种物理现象，并将它们的发现传达给某个称为数据接收器的中心站。传感器网络代表了一个重要的新兴工程研究领域，在从安全到野生动物监测的各个领域都有许多潜在的应用。无线传感器网络是一个具有挑战性的通信问题。传感器节点本身具有严格的能量和计算约束。同时，无线通信环境受到许多失真源的影响，如干扰或衰落，任何一种都可能导致信号丢失。众所周知，传感器网络中的节点通过相互合作，特别是相互充当信号的中继，可以获得更高的信息速率。通过中继，每个节点都可以访问从自身到接收器的几个独立路径，并且随着每个额外的中继，至少有一条通往接收器的路径可用的可能性越来越大。然而，这种解决方案给中继节点带来了负担，因为它们不能在帮助邻居的同时发送自己的信息。此外，它需要中继节点消耗宝贵的能量和计算资源。所提议的工作将研究通过无线传感器网络最大化信息传输速率的方法，特别是解决通过诸如将信息分布在尽可能大的一组节点上或在每个节点本地使用简化算法等方法在中继中产生的负担。重点是可行性，如果成功，提议的工作将导致利用无线通信技术先进概念的传感器网络硬件的部署。

In a wireless sensor network, many distributed nodes observe a physical phenomenon, and communicate their findings to some central station, known as the data sink. Sensor networks represent an important emerging field of engineering research, with numerous potential applications in diverse fields, from security to wildlifemonitoring.Wireless sensor networks present a challenging problem for communication. The sensor nodes themselves have stringent energy and computational constraints. Meanwhile, the wireless communication environment is affected by many sources of distortion, such as interference or fading, any of which could cause a loss of signal. It is known that the nodes in a sensor network can achieve higher information rates through co-operation, and especially through acting as relays for each others' signal. Through relaying, each node has access to several independent paths from itself to the sink, and with each additional relay, there is an increasing probability that at least one path to the sink will be usable. However, this solution imposes a burden on the relaying nodes, as they cannot send their own information while helping their neighbor.  Furthermore, it requires the relaying nodes to consume their precious energy and computational resources.The proposed work will investigate methods for maximizing the information transfer rate through a wireless sensor network, particularly addressing the burden incurred in relaying through methods such as distributing it over as large a set of nodes as possible, or using simplified algorithms locally at each node.  With a focus on feasibility, the proposed work will, if successful, lead to the deployment of sensor networking hardware which exploits advanced concepts in wireless communication technology.