Quality of information assurance using phenomena-aware resource management in sensor networks

Abstract

Sensor networks which react to the state of phenomena they are monitoring are becoming increasingly important. These networks are expected to execute additional queries or applications when the state of monitored phenomena is changing and, in general, have a dynamic set of applications deployed. In these kinds of networks resource management becomes an important issue, as the quality of information (IQ) delivered to a consumer may deteriorate significantly as applications are being added. In this paper we describe a framework which assures the quality of information delivered to a consumer in such a dynamic environment. The framework incorporates the characterization of various factors which affect the IQ. Namely, the resource contention between different applications is resolved via coordination of the selection of sensors which monitor the state of phenomena with the phenomena state distribution and resource allocation on individual sensors and their collective performance. The framework acts as an admission control scheme which assesses the above mentioned factors and application IQ requirements to decide if a sensor network is able to provide the required service. © 2006 IEEE.