Ad Hoc and Sensor

Networks

Dr.M.ARAMUDHAN
Associate Professor
PKIET, Karaikal 609 603

Introduction
Characteristics of Ad Hoc Networks
Applications
Routing
Table-driven Routing Protocols
Source-initiated On-demand Routing
Hybrid Protocols

Wireless Sensor Networks

Flat Routing in Sensor Networks
Fixed Wireless Sensor Networks

WLAN:
- To solve four nagging problems
- Mobility
- Mobility-to-Mobility networking
- relocation
- alternative to locations that are difficult to wire.
Advantages : - Installation and simplicity
- Installation flexibility
- Scalability
- Improved productivity and services
- Reduced cost of ownership.

Introduction
An ad-hoc network is a local area network (LAN) that is built
spontaneously as devices connect. Instead of relying on a base station
to coordinate the flow of messages to each node in the network, the
individual network nodes forward packets to and from each other.
A wireless ad hoc network is a decentralized type of wireless network.
The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a preexisting
infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points in
managed (infrastructure) wireless networks. Instead, each node
participates in routing by forwarding data for other nodes, and so the
determination of which nodes forward data is made dynamically based
on the network connectivity.
A Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is an autonomous system of nodes
(MSs) connected by wireless links.
A MANET does not necessarily need support from any existing network
infrastructure like an Internet gateway or other fixed stations.

 The networks wireless topology may dynamically change

in an unpredictable manner since nodes are free to move.
Information is transmitted in a store-and forward manner
using multi hop routing.
Each node is equipped with a wireless transmitter and a
receiver with an appropriate antenna.
We assume that it is not possible to have all nodes within
each others radio range.
When the nodes are close-by i.e., within radio range, there
are no routing issues to be addressed.
At a given point in time, wireless connectivity in the form of
a random multi-hop graph exists between the nodes.

A Mobile Ad Hoc Network

MS2

MS2
MS4

MS3

Asymmetric link

MS5

MS7

Symmetric link
MS1

MS6

 Technologies for Ad Hoc networks:

- IEEE 802.11 family of protocols
- High performance LAN ( HiperLAN)2 protocols
- Bluetooth specifications

LAN Technologies

802.11 Wireless LAN

Desktop
with PCI 802.11 LAN card

Network
connectivity
to the
legacy
wired LAN

Access Point

Laptop
with PCMCIA 802.11 LAN card

Provides network connectivity over wireless media

An Access Point (AP) is installed to act as Bridge
between Wireless and Wired Network
The AP is connected to wired network and is
equipped with antennae to provide wireless
connectivity

LAN Technologies

802.11 Wireless LAN

Range ( Distance between Access Point and WLAN
client) depends on structural hindrances and RF
gain of the antenna at the Access Point
To service larger areas, multiple APs may be
installed with a 20-30% overlap
A client is always associated with one AP and when
the client moves closer to another AP, it associates
with the new AP (Hand-Off)

Three flavors:
802.11b
802.11a
802.11g

IEEE 802.11 operates either with infrastructure or without infrastructure

support.
Infrastructure based network, there is a centralized controller for each cell,
referred as access point. It is connected to the wired backbone.
Infrastructure free network, a group of stations communicate directly with
each other in an ad hoc fashion, independent of infrastructure or base
stations.
When two or more stations come together to communicate with each other
they form BSS ( Basic Service Set). BSS is not connected with base station
called as IBSS.
Creating large and complex networks using a number of BSSs leads us to
the next level of hierarchy called ESS.
Services supported are association, reassociation, disassociation,
distribution and integration.

Frame Formats
Bytes:
2

Frame
Control

Duration
ID

Addr 1

6
Addr 2

Sequence
Control

Addr 3

0-2312
Frame
Body

Addr 4

4
CRC

802.11 MAC Header

Bits: 2
Protocol
Version

Type

SubType

1
To
DS

From
DS

More
Frag

Retry

Pwr
Mgt

More
Data

WEP

Rsvd

Frame Control Field

MAC Header format differs per Type:

Control Frames (several fields are omitted)
Management Frames
Data Frames

Address Field Description

Bits: 2
Protocol
Version

Type

SubType

1
To
DS

From
DS

More
Frag

Retry

Pwr
Mgt

More
Data

WEP

Rsvd

Frame Control Field

To DS

From DS

Address 1

Address 2

Address 3

Address 4

DA

SA

BSSID

N/A

DA

BSSID

SA

N/A

BSSID

SA

DA

N/A

RA

TA

DA

SA

Addr. 1 = All stations filter on this address.

Addr. 2 = Transmitter Address (TA), Identifies transmitter to address
the ACK frame to.
Addr. 3 = Dependent on To and From DS bits.
Addr. 4 = Only needed to identify the original source of WDS
(Wireless Distribution System)
frames

Type field descriptions

Bits: 2
Protocol
Version

Type

SubType

1
To
DS

From
DS

More
Frag

Retry

Pwr
Mgt

More
Data

WEP

Rsvd

Frame Control Field

Type and subtype identify the function of the frame:

Type=00 Management Frame
Beacon
Probe

(Re)Association
(De)Authentication

Power Management
Type=01 Control Frame
RTS/CTS
Type=10 Data Frame

ACK

LAN Technologies

Multiple Access with Collision

Avoidance (MACA)
other node in
senders range

sender
RTS

receiver

other node in
receivers range

CTS
data
ACK

Before every data transmission

Sender sends a Request to Send (RTS) frame
containing the length of the transmission
Receiver respond with a Clear to Send (CTS) frame
Sender sends data
Receiver sends an ACK; now another sender can
send data
When sender doesnt get a CTS back, it assumes
collision

Characteristics of Ad Hoc Networks

Dynamic topologies: Network topology may
change dynamically as the nodes are free to
move.
Bandwidth-constrained, variable capacity links:
Realized throughput of wireless communication
is less than the radios maximum transmission
rate. Collision occurs frequently.
Energy-constrained operation: Some nodes in
the ad hoc network may rely on batteries or
other exhaustible means for their energy.
Limited physical security: More prone to physical
security threats than fixed cable networks.

High Performance LAN

To produce WLAN that would be

indistinguishable in performance
from wired LAN.
To carry multimedia data and
provide QoS as it basic data
transport functions.
ETSI (European
Telecommunications Standards
Institute)
Developing HiperLAN standards
as part of an effort called BRAN
(Broadband Radio Access
Network)
HiperLANs have four types

HIPERLAN
Type 1

HIPERLAN
Type 2

Wireless LAN

Wireless ATM
Indoor access

Wireless ATM
Remote Access

Wireless ATM
Interconnect

MAC

DLC

DLC

DLC

PHY
(5 GHz)
20 + Mb/sec

PHY
(5 GHz)
20 + Mb/sec

PHY
(5 GHz)
20 + Mb/sec

PHY
(17 GHz)
150 + Mb/sec

HIPERLAN
Type 3

HIPERLAN
Type 4

Application

Frequency
Topology
Antenna
Range
QoS
Mobility
Interface
Data rate
Power
conservation

HIPERLAN 1
wireless LAN

HIPERLAN 2
access to ATM
fixed networks

HIPERLAN 3
wireless local
loop

HIPERLAN 4
point-to-point
wireless ATM
connections
17.2-17.3GHz
point-to-point

5.1-5.3GHz
decentralized adcellular,
point-tohoc/infrastructure
centralized
multipoint
omni-directional
directional
50 m
50-100 m
5000 m
150 m
statistical
ATM traffic classes (VBR, CBR, ABR, UBR)
<10m/s
stationary
conventional LAN
ATM networks
23.5 Mbit/s

>20 Mbit/s
yes

155 Mbit/s
not necessary

Characteristics
Data transmission
point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, connectionless
23.5 Mbit/s, 1 W power, 2383 byte max. packet size

Services
asynchronous and time-bounded services with hierarchical
priorities
compatible with ISO MAC

Topology
infrastructure or ad-hoc networks
transmission range can be larger then coverage of a single node
(forwarding integrated in mobile terminals)

Further mechanisms
power saving, encryption, checksums

HIPERLAN - reference model

Application Layer
Presentation Layer
higher layer protocols
Session Layer
Transport Layer
Network Layer
Data Link Layer

Medium Access Control

(MAC) Sublayer
Channel Access Control
(CAC) Sublayer

Physical Layer

Physical (PHY) Layer

OSI
Reference Model

HIPERLAN
Reference Model

HIPERLAN 1 - Physical layer

Scope
modulation, demodulation, bit and frame synchronization
forward error correction mechanisms
measurements of signal strength
channel sensing
Channels
3 mandatory and 2 optional channels (with their carrier frequencies)
mandatory
channel 0: 5.1764680 GHz
channel 1: 5.1999974 GHz
channel 2: 5.2235268 GHz
optional
channel 3: 5.2470562 GHz
channel 4: 5.2705856 GHz

HIPERLAN 1 - Physical layer frames

Maintaining a high data-rate (23.5 Mbit/s) is power consuming - problematic

for mobile terminals
packet header with low bit-rate comprising receiver information
only receiver(s) address by a packet continue receiving
Frame structure
LBR (Low Bit-Rate) header with 1.4 Mbit/s
450 bit synchronization
minimum 1, maximum 47 frames with 496 bit each
for higher velocities of the mobile terminal (> 1.4 m/s) the maximum
number of frames has to be reduced
HBR
LBR

synchronization

data0

data1

Modulation
GMSK for high bit-rate, FSK for LBR header

...

datam-1

HIPERLAN 1 - EY-NPMA I

transmission

priority assertion

elimination burst

prioritization

IESV

IYS

contention

user data

IES

yield listening

IPA

elimination survival
verification

IPS
priority detection

EY-NPMA (Elimination Yield Non-preemptive Priority Multiple Access)

3 phases: priority resolution, contention resolution, transmission
finding the highest priority
every priority corresponds to a time-slot to send in the first
phase, the higher the priority the earlier the time-slot to send
higher priorities can not be preempted
if an earlier time-slot for a higher priority remains empty, stations
with the next lower priority might send
after this first phase the highest current priority has been
determined
synchronization

transmission

HIPERLAN 1 - EY-NPMA II
Several terminals can now have the same priority and wish to send
contention phase
Elimination Burst: all remaining terminals send a burst to eliminate
contenders (11111010100010011100000110010110, high bit- rate)
Elimination Survival Verification: contenders now sense the
channel, if the channel is free they can continue, otherwise they
have been eliminated
Yield Listening: contenders again listen in slots with a nonzero
probability, if the terminal senses its slot idle it is free to transmit at
the end of the contention phase
the important part is now to set the parameters for burst duration
and channel sensing (slot-based, exponentially distributed)
data transmission
the winner can now send its data (however, a small chance of
collision remains)
if the channel was idle for a longer time (min. for a duration of 1700
bit) a terminal can send at once without using EY-NPMA
synchronization using the last data transmission

HIPERLAN 1 - MAC layer

Compatible to ISO MAC

Supports time-bounded services via a priority scheme
Packet forwarding
support of directed (point-to-point) forwarding and broadcast forwarding
(if no path information is available)
support of QoS while forwarding
Encryption mechanisms
mechanisms integrated, but without key management
Power conservation mechanisms
mobile terminals can agree upon awake patterns (e.g., periodic wakeups to receive data)
additionally, some nodes in the networks must be able to buffer data for
sleeping terminals and to forward them at the right time (so called
stores)

Piconet
Collection of devices connected in an
ad hoc fashion
One unit acts as master and the others
as slaves for the lifetime of the piconet
Master determines hopping pattern,
slaves have to synchronize
Each piconet has a unique hopping
pattern
Participation in a piconet =
synchronization to hopping sequence
Each piconet has one master and up to
7 simultaneous slaves (> 200 could be
parked)

SB

S
P

M=Master
S=Slave

SB

P=Parked
SB=Standby

Characteristics

2.4 GHz ISM band, 79 (23) RF channels, 1 MHz carrier spacing

Channel 0: 2402 MHz channel 78: 2480 MHz
G-FSK modulation, 1-100 mW transmit power
FHSS and TDD
Frequency hopping with 1600 hops/s
Hopping sequence in a pseudo random fashion, determined by a master
Time division duplex for send/receive separation
Voice link SCO (Synchronous Connection Oriented)
FEC (forward error correction), no retransmission, 64 kbit/s duplex, point-topoint, circuit switched
Data link ACL (Asynchronous ConnectionLess)
Asynchronous, fast acknowledge, point-to-multipoint, up to 433.9 kbit/s
symmetric or 723.2/57.6 kbit/s asymmetric, packet switched
Topology
Overlapping piconets (stars) forming a scatternet

Forming a piconet

All devices in a piconet hop together

Master gives slaves its clock and device ID
Hopping pattern: determined by device ID (48 bit, unique worldwide)
Phase in hopping pattern determined by clock
Addressing
Active Member Address (AMA, 3 bit)
Parked Member Address (PMA, 8 bit)

SB

SB

SB
SB
SB

SB

SB

SB
SB

S
SB

P
S
M

P
S

P
SB

Scatternet

Linking of multiple co-located piconets through the sharing of common master or

slave devices
Devices can be slave in one piconet and master of another
Communication between piconets
Devices jumping back and forth between the piconets
Piconets
(each with a
capacity of
P
< 1 Mbit/s)
S
S
S

M
SB

M=Master
S=Slave
P=Parked
SB=Standby

SB

SB
S

Bluetooth protocol stack

audio apps.

NW apps.

vCal/vCard

TCP/UDP

OBEX

telephony apps.

AT modem
commands

IP

mgmnt. apps.

TCS BIN

SDP

BNEP PPP

Control

RFCOMM (serial line interface)

Audio

Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP)

Link Manager
Baseband
Radio

AT: attention sequence

OBEX: object exchange
TCS BIN: telephony control protocol specification binary
BNEP: Bluetooth network encapsulation protocol

SDP: service discovery protocol

RFCOMM: radio frequency comm.

Host
Controller
Interface

Five main protocols : Bluetooth radio, base band, Link manager protocol,
Logical link control and adaptation protocol and service discovery protocol.
Bluetooth radio is responsible for the electrical interference to the
communication media, coding/decoding and modulation/demodulation of
data transmission.
Base band layer and link controller control physical links via radio layer by
assembling packets, controlling frequency hopping and performing error
checking and correction.
LMP is responsible for connection setup and maintenance.
L2CAP performs management and data flow control. Connection oriented
and connection less links , QoS, protocol multiplexing, segmentation and
reassembly and group management.
Identity the device, establish connection and data transmission.

Routing in MANETS - Goals

Provide the maximum possible reliability - use alternative routes if
an intermediate node fails.
Choose a route with the least cost metric.
Give the nodes the best possible response time and throughput.
Route computation must be distributed. Centralized routing in a
dynamic network is usually very expensive.
Routing computation should not involve the maintenance of global
state.
Every node must have quick access to routes on demand.
Each node must be only concerned about the routes to its
destination.
Broadcasts should be avoided (highly unreliable)
It is desirable to have a backup route when the primary route has
become stale.

Routing Classification
The existing routing protocols can be classified as,
Proactive: when a packet needs to be forwarded,
the route is already known.
Reactive: Determine a route only when there is data
to send.

Routing protocols may also be categorized as ,

Table Driven protocols
Source Initiated (on demand) protocols

Table Driven Routing Protocols

Each node maintains routing information
to all other nodes in the network
When the topology changes, updates are
propagated throughout the network.
Examples are:
Destination Sequenced Distance Vector
routing (DSDV)
Cluster-head Gateway Switch routing (CGSR)
Wireless Routing Protocol (WRP)

Destination Sequenced Distance

Vector Routing (DSDV)
Each mobile node maintains a routing table in terms of number of
hops to each destination.
Routing table updates are periodically transmitted.
Each entry in the table is marked by a sequence number which helps
to distinguish stale routes from new ones, and thereby avoiding loops.
To minimize the routing updates, variable sized update packets are
used depending on the number of topological changes.
Nodes periodically transmit routing tables throughout the network to
maintain table consistency.
Updates contain destination, number of hops to reach destination,
destination sequence number, sequence number that identifies the
updates

Route Update done based on recent sequence number.

Node A, sequence number is increased for destination

when A detects that the route to D has broken. If so A
advertised the route to D with infinite hop count and a
sequence number that is larger than the present one.

Cluster-head Gateway Switch Routing

(CGSR)
CGSR is a clustered multi-hop mobile wireless network with several
heuristic routing schemes.
A distributed cluster-head (CH) selection algorithm is used to elect a
node as the cluster head.
It modifies DSDV by using a hierarchical CH to route traffic.
Gateway nodes serve as bridge nodes between two or more
clusters.
A packet sent by a node is first routed to its CH and then the packet
is routed from the CH to a gateway of another cluster and then to
the CH and so on, until the destination cluster head is reached.
Frequent changes in the CH may affect the performance of the
routing protocol.

CGSR (Contd)
6

12

11
4

10

2
1

9
8
3

Gateway Node
Cluster Head
Internal Node

Routing in CGSR from node 1 to node 8

The Wireless Routing Protocol

(WRP)
It is a path finding algorithm that calculate shortest path
using length and second-to-last hop of the path to each
destination.
Each node maintains 4 tables:
-- Distance table
-- Routing table
-- Link cost table
-- Message Retransmission List table (MRL)
MRL contains the sequence number of the update
message, a retransmission counter and a list of
updates sent in the update message

Wireless Routing Protocol (Contd)

Nodes inform each other of link changes using
update messages.
Nodes send update messages after processing
updates from their neighbors or after detecting a
change in the link.
If a node is not sending messages, it must send a
HELLO message within a specified time to ensure
connectivity.
If the node receives a HELLO message from a new
node, that node is added to the table.
It avoids the count to infinity problem.

Source-Initiated On-Demand Routing

Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector
(AODV).
Dynamic Source Routing (DSR)
Temporary Ordered Routing Algorithm
(TORA)
Associativity Based Routing (ABR)
Signal Stability Routing (SSR)

Ad hoc On-Demand Distance vector

AODV is an improvement over DSDV, based on the concept of
next-hop routing model, which minimizes the number of required
broadcasts by creating routes on demand.
.Host keeps routing table that indicates the next host to be used as
the immediate relay to reach destination.
Each node receives the data, checks the routing table and if a
valid route for the destination of the data exists, it forwards the
packet to the next node
.Route discovery-route selection: A source node initiates a path
discovery process to locate the other intermediate nodes (and the
destination), by broadcasting a Route Request (RREQ) packet to
its neighbors

 Node waits for a route reply. If the reply is not received within
certain time, the node rebroadcast RREQ.
Ensure that all routes are loop-free and up-to-date. Each node
maintains its own sequence number as well as broadcast ID.
Node received RREQ, it checks already available by noting
source and broad cast ID pair. If so, it discards the message.
ROUTE MAINTAINCE: Each node peridically transmit a
broadcast message called HELLO and updates the information
associated with neighbour.

Route Discovery in AODV Protocol

Hop1

Hop2

Hop3
7

2
5

Source 1

8 Destination

3
6

(a) Propagation of Route Request (RREQ) Packet

7
2
5

Source 1

8 Destination

3
4

(b) Path Taken by the Route Reply (RREP) Packet

Dynamic Source Routing

The protocol consists of two major phases: Route
Discovery, Route Maintenance.
When a mobile node has a packet to send to some
destination, it first consults its route cache to check
whether it has a route to that destination.
If it is an un-expired route, it will use this route.
If the node does not have a route, it initiates route
discovery by broadcasting a Route Request packet.
This Route Request contains the address of the
destination, along with the source address.

Dynamic Source Request (Contd)

Each node receiving the packet checks to see whether it
has a route to the destination. If it does not, it adds its own
address to the route record of the packet and forwards it.
A route reply is generated when the request reaches either
the destination itself or an intermediate node that contains
in its route cache an un-expired route to that destination.
If the node generating the route reply is the destination, it
places the the route record contained in the route request
into the route reply.

Creation of Route Record in DSR

Hop1

<1>
Source 11

Hop2

Hop3

77

<1,2>
5

<1>
33

Hop4

<1,3,5,7>

<1,3,5>

8 Destination

<1,3>

<1>

44

<1,4,6>

<1,4>

(a) Building Record Route During Route Discovery

7

2
5

Source 1

8 Destination

<1,4,6>

6
4

<1,4,6>

<1,4,6>

(b) Propagation of Route Reply with the Route Record

Temporarily Ordered Routing

Algorithm (TORA)
.

TORA is a highly adaptive loop-free distributed

routing algorithm based on the concept of link
reversal.
TORA decouples the generation of potentially farreaching control messages from the rate of
topological changes.
The height metric is used to model the routing state
of the network.
The protocol performs three basic functions: route
creation, route maintenance, route erasure.

TORA (Contd)
Source
H=3

H=2

H=1

H=0
Destination

Illustration of Tora height metric

TORA (Contd)
During the route creation and maintenance phases
nodes use a height metric to establish a Directed
Acyclic Graph (DAG) rooted at the destination.
Thereafter links are assigned a direction based on
the relative heights

TORA (Contd)
2
(-,-)
Source

5
(-,-)

3
(-,-)

(-,-)

7
(-,-)

(0,0)

6
(-,-)

4
(-,-)

Destination

Figure 13.6(a) Propagation of the query message

2
(0,3)
Source

1
(0,3)

3
(0,3)
4
(0,2)

5
(0,2)

7
(0,1)
8
6
(0,1)

(0,0)

Nodes height updated as a result of the update message

Destination

Associativity Based Routing (ABR)

The three phases of ABR are: route discovery, route
reconstruction, route deletion.
In ABR a route is selected based on the degree of stability
associated with mobile nodes.
Association stability is defined by connection stability of one
node with respect to another node over time and space.
Each node generates a beacon to signify its existence.
When received by neighboring nodes, the beacon causes their
associatively tables to be updated.
The route discovery is accomplished by a Broadcast QueryReply (BQ-REPLY) cycle.
When a discovered route is no longer desired, the source node
initiates a Route Delete broadcast so that all the nodes along the
route update their routing tables.

Signal Stability Routing (SSR)

SSR selects a route based on the signal strength
between nodes and a nodes location stability.
This route selection criteria has the effect of choosing
routes that have a better link connectivity.
Node maintains two tables signal stability table and
routing table.
Two phases route discovery and route maintenance.

Hybrid protocols
Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP): a node proactively
maintains routes to destinations within a local
neighborhood. The construction of a routing zone
requires a node to first know who its neighbor,
which is implemented through a MAC layer
Neighbor Discovery Protocol.
Fisheye State Routing (FSR): There are multilevel fisheye scopes to reduce routing update
overhead in large networks. It helps to make a
routing protocol scalable by gathering data on the
topology, which may be needed soon.
Landmark Routing (LANMAR): Uses a landmark

Hybrid protocols (Contd)

Distance Routing Effect Algorithm for
Mobility (DREAM) : It is based on the distance
effect and a nodes mobility rate. Each node can
optimize the frequency at which it sends updates
to the networks and correspondingly reduce the
bandwidth and energy used.
Relative Distance Micro-discovery Ad Hoc
Routing (RDMAR): This is based on the
calculated relative distance between two
terminals. The query flood is localized to a
limited region centered at the source node.
Power Aware Routing: power-aware metrics

Protocol Characteristics (1/2)

Routing
Protocol

Route
Acquisition

Flood for Route

Discovery

Delay for Route

Discovery

Multipath
Capability

Effect of Route Failure

DSDV

Computed a
priori

No

No

No

Updates the routing tables of all

nodes

WRP

Computed a
priori

No

No

No

Ultimately, updates the routing

tables of all nodes by
exchanging MRL between
neighbors

DSR

On-demand,
only when
needed

Yes. Aggressive
use of caching
may reduce flood

Yes

Not explicitly.
The technique
of salvaging
may quickly
restore a route

Route error propagated up to

the source to erase invalid path

Protocol Characteristics (2/2)

Routing
Protocol

Route
Acquisition

Flood for Route

Discovery

Delay for Route

Discovery

Multipath
Capability

Effect of Route Failure

AODV

On-demand,
only when
needed

Yes. Controlled
use of cache to
reduce flood

Yes

No, although
recent research
indicate viability

Route error propagated up

to the source to erase
invalid path

TORA

On-demand,
only when
needed

Basically one for

initial route
discovery

Yes. Once the DAG is

constructed, multiple
paths are found

Yes

Error is recovered locally

LAR

On-demand,
only when
needed

Reduced by
using location
information

Yes

No

Route error propagated up

to the source

ZRP

Hybrid

Only outside a
source's zone

Only if the destination

is outside the
source's zone

No

Hybrid of updating nodes'

tables within a zone and
propagating route error to
the source

Sensor Networks
Sensor networks are highly distributed networks of small, lightweight
wireless node, deployed in large numbers to monitor the
environment or system.
Each node of the sensor networks consist of three subsystem:
Sensor subsystem: senses the environment
Processing subsystem: performs local computations on the
sensed data
Communication subsystem: responsible for message exchange
with neighboring sensor nodes
The features of sensor nodes
Limited sensing region, processing power, energy

 The advantage of sensor networks

Robust : a large number of sensors

Reliable :
Accurate : sensor networks covering a wider region
Fault-tolerant : many nodes are sensing the same event

Two important operations in a sensor networks

Data dissemination : the propagation of data/queries throughout
the network
Data gathering : the collection of observed data from the
individual sensor nodes to a sink

The different types of sensors

Seismic, thermal, visual, infrared

12.1.3 Issues and Challenges in

Designing a Sensor Network
Issues and Challenges
Sensor nodes are randomly deployed and hence do not fit into any
regular topology. Once deployed, they usually do not require any human
intervention. Hence, the setup and maintenance of the network should
be entirely autonomous.
Sensor networks are infrastructure-less. Therefore, all routing and
maintenance algorithms need to be distributed.
Energy problem
Hardware and software should be designed to conserve power
Sensor nodes should be able to synchronize with each other in a
completely distributed manner, so that TDMA schedules can be
imposed.
A sensor network should also be capable of adapting to changing
connectivity due to the failure of nodes, or new nodes powering up. The
routing protocols should be able to dynamically include or avoid sensor
nodes in their paths.

 Real-time communication over sensor networks must be

supported through provision of guarantees on maximum delay,
minimum bandwidth, or other QoS parameters.
Provision must be made for secure communication over sensor
networks, especially for military applications which carry
sensitive data.

Sensor node architecture

Main components of a WSN node
Controller
Communication device(s)
Sensors/actuators
Memory
Memory

Power supply
Communication
device

Controller

Sensor(s)/
actuator(s)

Power supply

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62

Controller
Main options:
Microcontroller general purpose processor, optimized for embedded
applications, low power consumption
DSPs optimized for signal processing tasks, not suitable here
FPGAs may be good for testing
ASICs only when peak performance is needed, no flexibility
Example microcontrollers
Texas Instruments MSP430
16-bit RISC core, up to 4 MHz, versions with 2-10 kbytes RAM,
several DACs, RT clock, prices start at 0.49 US$
Atmel ATMega
8-bit controller, larger memory than MSP430, slower

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63

Communication device
Which transmission medium?
Electromagnetic at radio frequencies?
Electromagnetic, light?
Ultrasound?

Radio transceivers transmit a bit- or byte stream as radio wave

Receive it, convert it back into bit-/byte stream

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64

Transceiver characteristics

Capabilities
Interface: bit, byte, packet level?
Supported frequency range?
Typically, somewhere in 433
MHz 2.4 GHz, ISM band
Multiple channels?
Data rates?
Range?
Energy characteristics
Power consumption to
send/receive data?
Time and energy consumption to
change between different states?
Transmission power control?
Power efficiency (which
percentage of consumed power is
radiated?)

Radio performance
Modulation? (ASK, FSK, ?)
Noise figure? NF = SNRI/SNRO
Gain? (signal amplification)
Receiver sensitivity? (minimum S to
achieve a given Eb/N0)
Blocking performance (achieved BER
in presence of frequency-offset
interferer)
Out of band emissions
Carrier sensing & RSSI characteristics
Frequency stability (e.g., towards
temperature changes)
Voltage range

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65

Transceiver states
Transceivers can be put into different operational states, typically:
Transmit
Receive
Idle ready to receive, but not doing so
Some functions in hardware can be switched off, reducing energy
consumption a little
Sleep significant parts of the transceiver are switched off
Not able to immediately receive something
Recovery time and startup energy to leave sleep state can be
significant
Research issue: Wakeup receivers can be woken via radio when in sleep
state (seeming contradiction!)

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66

Example radio transceivers

Almost boundless variety available

Some examples
RFM TR1000 family
916 or 868 MHz
400 kHz bandwidth
Up to 115,2 kbps
On/off keying or ASK
Dynamically tuneable output
power
Maximum power about 1.4 mW
Low power consumption
Chipcon CC1000
Range 300 to 1000 MHz,
programmable in 250 Hz steps
FSK modulation
Provides RSSI

Chipcon CC 2400
Implements 802.15.4
2.4 GHz, DSSS modem
250 kbps
Higher power
consumption than above
transceivers
Infineon TDA 525x family
E.g., 5250: 868 MHz
ASK or FSK modulation
RSSI, highly efficient
power amplifier
Intelligent power down,
self-polling mechanism
Excellent blocking
performance

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67

Wakeup receivers
Major energy problem: RECEIVING
Idling and being ready to receive consumes considerable amounts of
power
When to switch on a receiver is not clear
Contention-based MAC protocols: Receiver is always on
TDMA-based MAC protocols: Synchronization overhead, inflexible
Desirable: Receiver that can (only) check for incoming messages
When signal detected, wake up main receiver for actual reception
Ideally: Wakeup receiver can already process simple addresses
Not clear whether they can be actually built, however

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68

Sensors as such
Main categories
Any energy radiated? Passive vs. active sensors
Sense of direction? Omidirectional?
Passive, omnidirectional
Examples: light, thermometer, microphones, hygrometer,
Passive, narrow-beam
Example: Camera
Active sensors
Example: Radar
Important parameter: Area of coverage
Which region is adequately covered by a given sensor?

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69

Energy supply of mobile/sensor nodes

Goal: provide as much energy as possible at smallest
cost/volume/weight/recharge time/longevity
In WSN, recharging may or may not be an option
Options
Primary batteries not rechargeable
Secondary batteries rechargeable, only makes sense in combination
with some form of energy harvesting
Requirements include
Low self-discharge
Long shelf live
Capacity under load
Efficient recharging at low current
Good relaxation properties (seeming self-recharging)
Voltage stability (to avoid DC-DC conversion)

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70

Energy scavenging
How to recharge a battery?
A laptop: easy, plug into wall socket in the evening
A sensor node? Try to scavenge energy from environment
Ambient energy sources
Light ! solar cells between 10 W/cm2 and 15 mW/cm2
Temperature gradients 80 W/cm2 @ 1 V from 5K difference
Vibrations between 0.1 and 10000 W/cm3
Pressure variation (piezo-electric) 330 W/cm2 from the heel of a
shoe
Air/liquid flow
(MEMS gas turbines)

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71

Energy consumption
A back of the envelope estimation
Number of instructions
Energy per instruction: 1 nJ
Small battery (smart dust): 1 J = 1 Ws
Corresponds: 109 instructions!
Lifetime
Or: Require a single day operational lifetime = 246060 =86400 s
1 Ws / 86400s 11.5 W as max. sustained power consumption!
Not feasible!

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72

Multiple power consumption

modes
Way out: Do not run sensor node at full operation all the time
If nothing to do, switch to power safe mode
Question: When to throttle down? How to wake up again?
Typical modes
Controller: Active, idle, sleep
Radio mode: Turn on/off transmitter/receiver, both
Multiple modes possible, deeper sleep modes
Strongly depends on hardware
TI MSP 430, e.g.: four different sleep modes
Atmel ATMega: six different modes

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73

Operating system challenges in

WSN
Usual operating system goals
Make access to device resources abstract (virtualization)
Protect resources from concurrent access
Usual means
Protected operation modes of the CPU hardware access only
in these modes
Process with separate address spaces
Support by a memory management unit
Problem: These are not available in microcontrollers
No separate protection modes, no memory management unit
Would make devices more expensive, more power-hungry
! ???
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74

Operating system challenges in

WSN
Possible options
Try to implement as close to an operating system on WSN nodes
In particular, try to provide a known programming interface
Namely: support for processes!
Sacrifice protection of different processes from each other
! Possible, but relatively high overhead
Do (more or less) away with operating system
After all, there is only a single application running on a WSN node
No need to protect malicious software parts from each other
Direct hardware control by application might improve efficiency
Currently popular verdict: no OS, just a simple run-time environment
Enough to abstract away hardware access details
Biggest impact: Unusual programming model

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75

Main issue: How to support

concurrency Poll sensor
Simplest option: No concurrency, sequential
processing of tasks
Not satisfactory: Risk of missing data (e.g.,
from transceiver) when processing data, etc.
! Interrupts/asynchronous operation has to be
supported
Why concurrency is needed
Sensor nodes CPU has to service the radio
modem, the actual sensors, perform
computation for application, execute
communication protocol software, etc.

Process
sensor
data

Poll transceiver

Sensor networks - Node architecture

Process
received
packet

76

Traditional concurrency:
Handle sensor
Handle packet
Processes
process
process
Traditional OS: processes/threads
Based on interrupts, context
switching
But: not available memory
overhead, execution overhead
But: concurrency mismatch
One process per protocol
entails too many context
switches
Many tasks in WSN small with
respect to context switching
overhead
And: protection between processes
not needed in WSN
Only one application anyway

OS-mediated
process switching

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77

Event-based concurrency
Alternative: Switch to event-based programming model
Perform regular processing or be idle
React to events when they happen immediately
Basically: interrupt handler
Problem: must not remain in interrupt handler too long
Danger of loosing events
Only save data, post information that event has happened, then
return
! Run-to-completion principle
Two contexts: one for handlers, one for regular execution
Radio
Sensor
event
event

Idle / Regular
processing

Radio event handler

Sensor event
handler
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78

Components instead of
processes
Need an abstraction to group functionality
Replacing processes for this purpose
E.g.: individual functions of a networking protocol
One option: Components
Here: In the sense of TinyOS
Typically fulfill only a single, well-defined function
Main difference to processes:
Component does not have an execution
Components access same address space, no protection
against each other
NOT to be confused with component-based programming!
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79

API to an event-based protocol

stack
Usual networking API: sockets
Issue: blocking calls to receive data
Ill-matched to event-based OS
Also: networking semantics in WSNs not necessarily well matched to/by
socket semantics

API is therefore also event-based

E.g.: Tell some component that some other component wants to be
informed if and when data has arrived
Component will be posted an event once this condition is met
Details: see TinyOS example discussion below

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80

12.1.2 Comparison with Ad Hoc Wireless Networks

Different from Ad Hoc wireless networks
The number of nodes in sensor network can be several orders of
magnitude large than the number of nodes in an ad hoc network.
Sensor nodes are more easy to failure and energy drain, and their
battery sources are usually not replaceable or rechargeable.
Sensor nodes may not have unique global identifiers (ID), so unique
addressing is not always feasible in sensor networks.
Sensor networks are data-centric, the queries in sensor networks are
addressed to nodes which have data satisfying some conditions. Ad
Hoc networks are address-centric, with queries addressed to particular
nodes specified by their unique address.
Data fusion/aggregation: the sensor nodes aggregate the local
information before relaying. The goals are reduce bandwidth
consumption, media access delay, and power consumption for
communication.

12.2 Sensor Network Architecture

The two basic kinds of sensor network architecture
Layered Architecture
Clustered Architecture

12.2.1 Layered Architecture

A layered architecture has a single powerful base station, and the
layers of sensor nodes around it correspond to the nodes that have
the same hop-count to the BS.
In the in-building scenario, the BS acts an access point to a wired
network, and small nodes form a wireless backbone to provide
wireless connectivity.
The advantage of a layered architecture is that each node is
involved only in short-distance, low-power transmissions to nodes of
the neighboring layers.

Figure 12.2 Layered architecture

"Ad Hoc Wireless Networks", by C. Siva Ram Murthy and B. S. Manoj, published by Prentice Hall, 2004

Unified Network Protocol Framework (UNPF)

UNPF is a set of protocols for complete implementation of a layered
architecture for sensor networks
UNPF integrates three operations in its protocol structure:
Network initialization and maintenance
MAC protocol
Routing protocol

Network initialization and maintenance

The BS broadcasts its ID using a known CDMA code on the
common control channel.
All node which hear this broadcast then record the BS ID. They send
a beacon signal with their own IDs at their low default power levels.
Those nodes which the BS can hear form layer one
BS broadcasts a control packet with all layer one node IDs. All
nodes send a beacon signal again.
The layer one nodes record the IDs which they hear (form layer two)
and inform the BS of the layer two nodes IDs.
Periodic beaconing updates neighbor information and change the
layer structure if nodes die out or move out of range.

MAC protocol
During the data transmission phase, the distributed TDMA receiver
oriented channel (DTROC) assignment MAC protocol is used.
Two steps of DTROC :
Channel allocation : Each node is assigned a reception channel by the
BS, and channel reuse is such that collisions are avoided.
Channel scheduling : The node schedules transmission slots for all its
neighbors and broadcasts the schedule. This enables collision-free
transmission and saves energy, as nodes can turn off when they are not
involved on a send/receive operation.

Routing protocol
Downlink from the BS is by direct broadcast on the control channel.
Uplink from the sensor nodes to BS is by multi-hop data forwarding.
The node to which a packet is to be forwarded is selected
considering the remaining energy of the nodes. This achieves a
higher network lifetime.

12.2.2 Clustered Architecture

A clustered architecture organizes the sensor nodes into clusters,
each governed by a cluster-head. The nodes in each cluster are
involved in message exchanges with their cluster-heads, and these
heads send message to a BS.
Clustered architecture is useful for sensor networks because of its
inherent suitability for data fusion. The data gathered by all member
of the cluster can be fused at the cluster-head, and only the resulting
information needs to be communicated to the BS.

The cluster formation and election of cluster-heads must be an

autonomous, distributed process.

Figure 12.3 Clustered architecture

"Ad Hoc Wireless Networks", by C. Siva Ram Murthy and B. S. Manoj, published by Prentice Hall, 2004

Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH)

LEACH is a clustering-based protocol that minimizes energy dissipation in

sensor networks. The operation of LEACH is spilt into two phases : setup
and steady.
Setup phase : each sensor node chooses a random number between 0 and 1. If
this is lower than the threshold for node n, T(n), the sensor node becomes a
cluster-head. The threshold T(n) is calculated as

P : the percentage of nodes which are cluster-heads

r : the current round
G : the set of nodes that has not been cluster-heads in the past 1/P rounds

After selection, the cluster-heads advertise their selection to all nodes. All nodes
choose their nearest cluster-head by signal strength (RSSI). The cluster-heads
then assign a TDMA schedule for their cluster members.

 Steady phase : data transmission takes place based on the TDMA

schedule, and the cluster-heads perform data aggregation/fusion.
After a certain period of time in the steady phase, cluster-heads are
selected again through the setup phase.

Classification of Sensor
Networks
Proactive Networks
The nodes in the network periodically switch on their
sensors and transmitters, sense the environment and
transmit the data of interest.
Reactive Networks
In this scheme the nodes react immediately to sudden
and drastic changes in the value of the sensed attribute.

Fundamentals of MAC Protocol for

Wireless Sensor Networks
Static Channel Allocation
In this category of protocols, if there are N nodes, the
bandwidth is divided into N equal portions either in
frequency (FDMA), in time (TDMA), in code (CDMA),
in space (SDMA: Space Division Multiple Access) or
OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)

Dynamic Channel Allocation

In this category of protocols, there is no fixed
assignment of bandwidth.

Routing Issues in Sensor

Networks
In traditional wired networks each node is identified by a unique
address, which is used for routing. Sensor networks, being data
centric do not, in general, require routing between specific nodes.
Adjacent nodes may have similar data. So it is desirable to
aggregate this data and send it.
The requirements of the network change with application, hence it
is application specific.

Routing in Sensor Networks Flat

Routing
Directed Diffusion
The query is flooded throughout the network.
Events start from some specific points and move outwards to
reach the requesting node
This type of data collection does not fully exploit the feature
of sensor networks that adjacent nodes have similar data.
Sensor Protocols for Information via Negotiation (SPIN)
Disseminates the information at each node to every node in
the network.
Cougar
This is a warehousing approach. The data is extracted in a
pre-defined manner and stored in a central database (BS).
Query processing takes place on the BS. Cougar is a unique
model for query representation in sensor networks.

Hierarchical Routing in Sensor

Networks
Hierarchical clustering schemes are the most suitable for wireless
sensor networks.
The network consists of a Base Station (BS), away from the nodes,
through which the end user can access data from the sensor
network.
BS can transmit with high power.
Nodes cannot reply directly to the BS due to their low power
constraints, resulting in asymmetric communication.

Hierarchical Routing (Contd)

3.1

3.2

Base Station
3
3.3

2
2.3
1.0.1
1.0.2

2.1
2.2

1.2.5

1.2.4

1.0.3
1.2

1.1.2

1.1

1.1.3
1.1.4

1.1.1

1.1.5

1.2.1

1.2.3
1.2.2
Simple sensor node
First Level Cluster Head
Second Level Cluster Head

Cluster Based Routing Protocol

Cluster Based Routing Protocol (CBRP)
Here the cluster members just send the data to the
cluster head (CH).
The CH routes the data to the destination.
Not suitable for a highly mobile environment, as a lot
of HELLO messages are sent to maintain the cluster.

Reactive Network Protocol:TEEN

TEEN (Threshold-sensitive Energy Efficient sensor Network
protocol)
It is targeted at reactive networks and is the first protocol
developed for such networks.
In this scheme at every cluster change time, the CH broadcasts
the following to its members:
Hard Threshold (HT): This is a threshold value for the sensed
attribute.
Soft Threshold (ST): This is a small change in the value of
the sensed attribute which triggers the node to switch on its
transmitter and transmit.

Reactive Network Protocol:TEEN

Parameters

Attribute > Threshold

Cluster Formation
Cluster Change Time

Cluster Head Receives Message

Time Line for TEEN

TEEN (Contd)
The nodes sense their environment continuously.
The first time a parameter from the attribute set reaches its hard
threshold value, the node switches on its transmitter and sends
the sensed data.
The sensed value is stored in an internal variable, called Sensed
Value (SV).
The nodes will transmit data in the current cluster period only
when the following conditions are true:
-- The current value of the sensed attribute is greater than the
hard threshold.
-- The current value of the sensed attribute differs from SV by an
amount equal to or greater than the soft threshold.

TEEN
Important features:
Suited for time critical sensing applications.
Message transmission consumes more energy than
data sensing. So the energy consumption in this
scheme is less than the proactive networks.
The soft threshold can be varied.
At every cluster change time, the parameters are
broadcast afresh and so, the user can change them as
required.
The main drawback is that if the thresholds are not
reached, then the nodes will never communicate.

Adaptive Periodic Threshold-sensitive

Energy Efficient sensor Network protocol
(APTEEN)

Functioning:
The cluster heads broadcasts the following parameters:
Attributes (A): This is a set of physical parameters which
the user is interested in obtaining data about.
Thresholds: This parameter consists of a Hard
Threshold (HT) and a Soft Threshold (ST).
Schedule: This is a TDMA schedule, assigning a slot to
each node.
Count Time (CT): It is the maximum time period between
two successive reports sent by a node.

Adaptive Periodic Threshold-sensitive Energy Efficient

sensor Network protocol (APTEEN)

TDMA Schedule and

Parameters

Slot for Node i

Cluster Formation
Frame Time
Cluster Change Time

Time line for APTEEN

APTEEN (Contd)
The node senses the environment continuously.
Only those nodes which sense a data value at or beyond
the hard threshold transmit.
Once a node senses a value beyond HT, it next
transmits data only when the value of that attribute
changes by an amount equal to or greater than the ST.
If a node does not send data for a time period equal to
the count time, it is forced to sense and retransmit the
data.
A TDMA schedule is used and each node in the cluster
is assigned a transmission slot.

APTEEN (Contd)
Main features of the scheme:
It combines both proactive and reactive policies.
It offers a lot of flexibility by allowing the user to set the
count-time interval (CT) and the threshold values for
the attributes.
Energy consumption can be controlled by changing
the count time as well as the threshold values.
The main drawback of the scheme is the additional
complexity required to implement the threshold
functions and the count time.

Hierarchical Vs Flat topologies

Hierarchical

Flat

Reservation-based scheduling

Contention-based scheduling

Collisions avoided

Collision overhead present

Reduced duty cycle due to periodic sleeping

Variable duty cycle by controlling sleep time of nodes

Data aggregation by cluster head

Node on multi-hop path aggregates incoming data from

neighbors

Simple but non-optimal routing

Routing is complex but optimal

Requires global and local synchronization

Links formed on the fly, without synchronization

Overhead of cluster formation throughout the

network

Routes formed only in regions that have data for

transmission

Lower latency as multi-hop network formed by

cluster-heads is always available

Latency in waking up intermediate nodes and setting up

the multi-hop path

Energy dissipation is uniform

Energy dissipation depends on traffic patterns

Energy dissipation can not be controlled

Energy dissipation adapts to traffic pattern

Fair channel allocation

Fairness not guaranteed

Adapting to the Inherent Dynamic

Nature of Wireless Sensor Networks
Certain objectives that need to be achieved are:
Exploit spatial diversity and density of sensors.
Build an adaptive node sleep schedule.
Explore the tradeoff between data redundancy and bandwidth
consumption.
The nodes on deployment should create and assemble a network, adapt
to device failure and degradation, manage mobility of sensor nodes and
react to changes in task and sensor requirements.
Adaptability to traffic changes. Certain nodes may detect an event that
could trigger a number of updates and at other times very little traffic
may be present.
Allowing finer control over an algorithm rather than simply turning it on
and off.