Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Recharging versus replacing sensor nodes using mobile robots for network maintenance

  • Published:
Telecommunication Systems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been of very high interest for the research community for years, but the quest for deploying a self-sustained network and effectively prolonging its lifetime has not found a satisfactory answer yet. Two main approaches can be identified that target this objective: either “recharging” or “replacing” the sensor nodes that are running out of energy. Of particular interest are solutions where mobile robots are used to execute the above mentioned tasks to automatically and autonomously maintain the WSN, thus reducing human intervention. Recently, the progress in wireless power transfer techniques has boosted research activities in the direction of battery recharging, with high expectations for its application to WSNs. Similarly, also sensor replacement techniques have been widely studied as a means to provide service continuity in the network. The objective of this paper is to investigate the limitations and the advantages of these two research directions. Key decision points must be identified for effectively supporting WSN self-maintenance: (i) which sensor nodes have to be recharged/replaced; (ii) in which order the mobile robot is serving (i.e., recharging/replacing) the nodes and by following which path; (iii) how much energy is delivered to a sensor when recharged. The influence that a set of parameters, relative to both the sensors and the mobile robot, has on the decisions will be considered. Centralized and distributed solutions are compared in terms of effectiveness in prolonging the network lifetime and in allowing network self-sustainability. The performance evaluation in a variety of scenarios and network settings offers the opportunity to draw conclusions and to discuss the boundaries for one technique being preferable to the other.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The time available to recharge a sensor is limited by the lower of the values of two parameters: the spared time in cycle T during the robot travel, the energy for recharging (mapped onto a time value) available in the robots battery.

References

  1. Akyildiz, I., Melodia, T., & Chowdhury, K. (2007). A survey on wireless multimedia sensor networks. Computer Networks, 51(4), 921–960.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Akyildiz, I., Su, W., Sankarasubramaniam, Y., & Cayirci, E. (2002). A survey on sensor networks. Computer Networks, 38(4), 393–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Anastasi, G., Conti, M., Francesco, M. D., & Passarella, A. (2009). Energy conservation in wireless sensor networks: A survey. Ad Hoc Networks, 7(3), 537–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Cabras, M., Pilloni, V., & Atzori, L. (2015). A novel smart home energy management system: Cooperative neighbourhood and adaptive renewable energy usage. In ICC, 2015 Proceedings IEEE. IEEE.

  5. Chang, J., & Tassiulas, L. (2004). Maximum lifetime routing in wireless sensor networks. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 12(4), 609–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Colistra, G., Pilloni, V., & Atzori, L. (2014). The problem of task allocation in the internet of things and the consensus-based approach. Computer Networks, 73, 98–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Farris, I., Militano, L., Iera, A., Molinaro, A., & Spinella, S. C. (2016). Tag-based cooperative data gathering and energy recharging in wide area RFID sensor networks. Ad Hoc Networks, 36(1), 214–228. doi:10.1016/j.adhoc.2015.07.001. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570870515001365.

  8. Guo, S., Wang, C., & Yang, Y. (2013). Mobile data gathering with wireless energy replenishment in rechargeable sensor networks. In INFOCOM, 2013 Proceedings IEEE (pp. 1932–1940). IEEE.

  9. Guo, S., Wang, C., & Yang, Y. (2014). Joint mobile data gathering and energy provisioning in wireless rechargeable sensor networks. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, 13(12), 2836–2852. doi:10.1109/TMC.2014.2307332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kurs, A., Karalis, A., Moffatt, R., Joannopoulos, J., Fisher, P., & Soljacic, M. (2007). Wireless power transfer via strongly coupled magnetic resonances. Science, 317, 83–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kurs, A., Moffatt, R., & Soljacic, M. (2010). Simultaneous mid-range power transfer to multiple devices. Applied Physics Letters, 96, 044102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Liu, L., Hu, B., & Li, L. (2010). Energy conservation algorithms for maintaining coverage and connectivity in wireless sensor networks. IET Communications, 4(7), 786–800.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Lu, X., Wang, P., Niyato, D., Kim, D., & Han, Z. (2015). Wireless charging technologies: Fundamentals, standards, and network applications. IEEE Communications Surveys Tutorials, PP(99), 1–1. doi:10.1109/COMST.2015.2499783.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Magklara, K., Zorbas, D., & Razafindralambo, T. (2012). Node discovery and replacement using mobile robot. In 4th international conference on ad hoc networks. Paris. http://hal.inria.fr/hal-00740172.

  15. Mei, Y., Xian, C., Das, S., Hu, Y. C., & Lu, Y. H. (2007). Sensor replacement using mobile robots. Computer Communications, 30(13), 2615–2626. doi:10.1016/j.comcom.2007.05.047.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Merenda, M., Farris, I., Felini, C., Militano, L., Spinella, S. C., Della Corte, F. G., & Iera, A. (2014). Performance assessment of an enhanced rfid sensor tag for long-run sensing applications. In IEEE sensors. IEEE.

  17. Padberg, M., & Rinaldi, G. (1991). A branch-and-cut algorithm for the resolution of large-scale symmetric traveling salesman problems. SIAM Review, 14(1), 60–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Pantazis, N. A., & Vergados, D. D. (2007). A survey on power control issues in wireless sensor networks. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, 9(4), 86–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Peng, Y., Li, Z., Zhang, W., & Qiao, D. (2010). Prolonging sensor network lifetime through wireless charging. In 2010 IEEE 31st real-time systems symposium (RTSS). Iowa State Univ., Ames.

  20. Sanctis, M. D., Cianca, E., Bisio, I., Araniti, G., Prasad, R., Satellite communications supporting internet of remote things. IEEE Internet of Things Journal (In press) PP(99), 1–1. doi:10.1109/JIOT.2015.2487046.

  21. Sheu, J. P., Hsieh, K. Y., & Cheng, P. W. (2008). Design and implementation of mobile robot for nodes replacement in wireless sensor networks. Journal of Information Science and Engineering, 24(2), 393–410.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Shi, J., Xie, L., Hou, Y. T., & Sherali, H. D. (2011). On renewable sensor networks with wireless energy transfer. In 2011 Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM. Virginia Polytech. Inst. and State Univ., Blacksburg.

  23. Sudevalayam, S., & Kulkarni, P. (2011). Energy harvesting sensor nodes: Survey and implications. Communications Surveys and Tutorials, 13, 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Tong, B., Li, Z., Wang, G., & Zhang, W. (2009). On-demand node reclamation and replacement for guaranteed area coverage in long-lived sensor networks. QShine ’09

  25. Tong, B., Wang, G., Zhang, W., & Wang, C. (2009). Node reclamation and replacement for long-lived sensor networks. In SECON.

  26. Wang, G., Cao, G., Porta, T., & Zhang, W. (2005). Sensor relation in mobile sensor networks. INFOCOM, 4, 2302–2312.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Wang, G., Srinivasan, V., & Chua, K. (2008). Extending the lifetime of wireless sensor networks through mobile relays. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 16(5), 1108–1120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Watteyne, T., Molinaro, A., Richichi, M., & Dohler, M. (2011). From MANET To IETF ROLL standardization: A paradigm shift in WSN routing protocols. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, 13(4), 688–707.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. WSNet. An event-driven simulator for large scale wireless sensor networks. www.wsnet.gforge.inria.fr. www.wsnet.gforge.inria.fr.

  30. Xie, L., Shi, J., Hou, Y. T., & Sherali, H. D. (2012). Making sensor networks immortal: An energy-renewal approach with wireless power transfer. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 20, 1748.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Xie, L., Shi, Y., Hou, Y., Lou, W., Sherali, H., & Midkiff, S. (2012). On renewable sensor networks with wireless energy transfer: The multi-node case. In Sensor, mesh and Ad Hoc communications and networks (SECON).

  32. Yeh, L. W., Wang, Y. C., & Tseng, Y. C. (2009). ipower: an energy conservation system for intelligent buildings by wireless sensor networks. International Journal of Sensor Networks, 5(1), 1–10.

  33. Yick, J., Mukherjee, B., & Ghosal, D. (2008). Wireless sensor network survey. Computer Networks, 52, 2292–2330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Zhao, M., Li, J., & Yang, Y. (2014). A framework of joint mobile energy replenishment and data gathering in wireless rechargeable sensor networks. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, 13(12), 2689–2705. doi:10.1109/TMC.2014.2307335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DIIES Department, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy

    Leonardo Militano, Antonella Molinaro & Antonio Iera

  2. Heudiasyc, University of Technology of Compiègne, Compiègne, France

    Milan Erdelj

  3. Inria Lille-Nord Europe, Lille, France

    Nathalie Mitton

Authors
  1. Leonardo Militano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Milan Erdelj
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Antonella Molinaro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nathalie Mitton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Antonio Iera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leonardo Militano.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Militano, L., Erdelj, M., Molinaro, A. et al. Recharging versus replacing sensor nodes using mobile robots for network maintenance. Telecommun Syst 63, 625–642 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11235-016-0145-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11235-016-0145-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation