Wireless Networking

Wireless networks

 Infrastructure based networks

 Ad hoc networks

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 Infrastructure based networks

 There are no direct communications between wireless nodes

 Nodes communicate with each other through access points
 Access points control medium access making the topology of the
network very simple.
 Moreover, these access points act as gateways if there is a necessity for
nodes in one network to communicate with nodes in other networks.

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 Infrastructure based networks

When to use an infrastructure network:

 To add more access points to boost the range easily
 To set up a more permanent network
 To bridge to other types of networks (e.g., we can connect to a
wired network if required)
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Ad hoc networks

 Ad hoc wireless networks do not need access points.

 Nodes in this network category communicate with each
other directly and maintain connectivity in a decentralized
manner.
 As a result, each node has to implement a medium access
control algorithm.
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Ad hoc networks

When to use an ad-hoc network:

 To quickly set up a peer-to-peer (P2P) network between two devices

 When creating a quick temporary network
 If there is no network infrastructure set up in the area (ad-hoc is the
only network mode that can be used in areas like this)

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Ad hoc networks

 Two very important ad hoc wireless networks:

 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)
 Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs)
 Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs)

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Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)
 WSNs are ad hoc networks with a large number of
small, inexpensive nodes deployed over geographical
areas to monitor physical or environmental
conditions.

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 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)
 Each of these nodes has a microcontroller, wireless transceiver, an
antenna, a power source (normally a battery), memory, and one or
more sensors.
 These sensors collect relevant data from the environment and then
send or relay that data via the ad hoc network to a central station.
 Sensors basically sense heat, light, vibration, sound etc.

P
Sensors O
W
Storage microcontroller
E
R
Transceiver

WSN device schematics

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 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)
 As the nodes are inexpensive and small in size, they have
very limited resources (battery power, memory space, and
processing speed).
 The nodes are often placed in environments where
maintenance (e.g., replacement of battery or damaged nodes)
is difficult
 The network lifetime thus depends on the energy efficiency
of the sensors. So it is necessary to design algorithms that
minimize energy usage.

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 Characteristics of WSNs
 Limited Resources
 Limited computational power, bandwidth, and memory capacity.
 Network lifetime
 Limited battery capacity.
 Dense, ad hoc deployment
 Deployed densely in ad hoc manner in the area of interest.
 Ability to cope with node failures
 Nodes may die because of depleted batteries.
 Ability to tolerate hostile environmental conditions
 Nodes may be deployed in forests, war zones, or harmful industrial
environments.

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 Advantages of WSNs
 Low cost: WSNs consist of small, low-cost sensors that are
easy to deploy, making them a cost-effective solution for many
applications.

 Wireless communication: WSNs eliminate the need for wired

connections, which can be costly and difficult to install.
Wireless communication also enables flexible deployment and
reconfiguration of the network.

 Energy efficiency: WSNs use low-power devices and

protocols to conserve energy, enabling long-term operation
without the need for frequent battery replacements.
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 Advantages of WSNs
 Scalability: WSNs can be scaled up or down easily by
adding or removing sensors, making them suitable for a
range of applications and environments.

 Real-time monitoring: WSNs enable real-time monitoring of

physical phenomena in the environment, providing timely
information for decision making and control.

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 WSN Applications
 Military applications
 Target tracking, battle field surveillance.
 Environmental applications
 Detect forest fires, floods.
 Health applications
 track and monitor the positions and conditions of patients.
 Home applications
 can be attached to home appliances such as vacuum cleaners,
refrigerators, DVD players, and water monitoring systems to
manage the appliances locally or remotely.

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Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs)
 MANETs are ad hoc networks comprising mobile nodes.
 Nodes in MANETs can move in any direction without
restrictions, leading to changes in neighbourhood
structure.
 As a result, the network topology is altered in a frequent
manner.
 A class of MANETs
 Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs)

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 Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs)

 Nodes in VANETs are vehicles that comply with street

traffic regulations while moving. VANETs support both
vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)
communications.

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 Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs)

 V2V communications
 vehicles exchange information with each other.
 V2I communications
 involve message exchanges between vehicles and traffic lights or
between vehicles and roadside monitors known as road side units
(RSUs).
 The vehicles can access the internet through RSUs.
 Each vehicle is equipped with a controller called on-board unit
(OBU) that supports the V2V and V2I communications.
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Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
 The WHO Global status report on road safety states that
road accidents cause around 1.24 million deaths and 20 –
50 million injuries each year.
 According to the Texas Transportation Institute the traffic
congestion cost in the US was approximately $115 billion
based on wasted time and fuel per year.
 Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) support V2V
and V2I communications by applying information
technologies in vehicles and RSUs in order to improve
road safety and provide passenger and driver comforts.
 Therefore, VANETs form an important part of ITS.

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Characteristics of VANETs
 Highly Dynamic Topology
 Due to the fast movement of vehicles.
 Variable Node Density
 number of vehicles in a region varies over time and is dependant
on the situation.
 Predictable Network Topology
 move on roads, follow traffic signals, and road signs.
 Available Battery Power
 There is no limitation of battery power.
 Enough computational resources
 Each vehicle is equipped with Global Positioning System
(GPS), a high speed CPU, and many sensors.
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Applications of VANETs

VANETs

 VANET applications:
 Safety applications: Warning about accidents, violation of traffic
signals, wrong way driving, and much more.
 Non-safety applications: Information about near by restaurant, hotels,
and gas stations, play on-line game and access the internet.

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TCP/IP: A Standard Network Architecture

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TCP/IP: A Standard Network Architecture

 Our focus will be on

 Data link layer (MAC sub-layer)
 Network layer

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Localization in WSNs
 In a variety of promising applications of WSN’s, acquiring
location information of the sensor nodes is crucial.
 Without location information, the system or a user would
not be able to detect where the collected data are coming
from.
 Hospitals, animal tracking, used in enterprises to locate
assets

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Localization in WSNs
 Anchor Based and Anchor Free
 In anchor-based mechanisms, the positions of few nodes
are known. Unlocalized nodes are localized by these
known nodes positions. Accuracy is highly depending on
the number of anchor nodes.
 Anchor-free algorithms estimate relative positions of
nodes instead of computing absolute node positions

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Localization in WSNs
 Centralized and Distributed
 In centralized schemes, all information is passed to one
central point or node which is usually called “sink node or
base station”. Sink node computes position of nodes and
forwards information to respected nodes. Computation
cost of centralized based algorithm is decreased, and it
takes less energy as compared with computation at
individual node.
 In distributed schemes, sensors calculate and estimate
their positions individually and directly communicate with
anchor nodes. There is no clustering in distributed
schemes, and every node estimates its own position
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Localization in WSNs
 GPS can be attached with each node.
 Attaching a GPS with each sensor node is expensive in terms of
size, cost and energy consumption.
 Moreover, GPS devices may not work properly in all environments
such as indoors where they do not have direct line-of-sight with
the satellites.
 Assume that a small fraction of nodes (called seeds) are able to
determine their locations at all times.
 The nodes whose locations are to be determined are called non-
seeds or simply sensor nodes.
 Nodes compute their own locations by communicating with each
other.
 some (possibly all or none) of the nodes can be considered mobile.
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Localization in WSNs
 Stationary and Mobile Sensor Nodes
 Localization algorithms are also designed according to
field of sensor nodes in which they are deployed. Some
nodes are static in nature and are fixed at one place, and
the majority applications use static nodes. That is why
many localization algorithms are designed for static
nodes. Few applications use mobile sensor nodes, for
which few mechanisms are designed

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