Wireless Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks

A wireless ad hoc network is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing 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, so the determination of which nodes forward data is made dynamically on the basis of network connectivity. In addition to the classic routing, ad hoc networks can use flooding for forwarding the data. Perhaps the most widespread notion of a mobile ad hoc network is a network formed without any central administration which consists of mobile nodes that use a wireless interface to send packet data. Since the nodes in a network of this kind can serve as routers and hosts, they can forward packets on behalf of other nodes and run user applications. The roots of ad hoc networking can be traced back as far as 1968, when work on the ALOHA network was initiated (the objective of this network was to connect educational facilities in Hawaii). Although fixed stations were employed, the ALOHA protocol lent itself to distributed channel access management and hence provided a basis for the subsequent development of distributed channel-access schemes that were suitable for ad hoc networking. The ALOHA protocol itself was a single-hop protocol and that is, it did not inherently support routing. Instead every node had to be within reach of all other participating nodes. When developing IEEE 802.11a standard for wireless local area networks (WLAN) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE) replaced the term packet-radio network with ad hoc network. Packet-radio networks had come to be associated with the multi hop networks of large-scale military or rescue operations, and by adopting a new name, the IEEE hoped to indicate an entirely new deployment scenario. Sensor networks are highly distributed networks of small, lightweight wireless nodes, deployed in large numbers to monitor the environment or system by the measurement of physical parameters such as temperature, pressure, or relative humidity.

CELLULAR AND AD HOC WIRELESS NETWORKS

Fig. Cellular and ad-hoc wireless networks. Ad hoc wireless networks are defined as the category of wireless networks that utilize multi-hop radio relaying and are capable of operating without the support of any fixed infrastructure. Hence they are also called infrastructureless networks. The absence of any central coordinator or base station makes the routing a complex one compared to cellular networks. Wireless mesh networks and wireless sensor networks are specific examples of ad hoc wireless networks. The current cellular wireless networks are classified as infrastructure dependent networks. The path setup for a call between two nodes is completed through the base station. The presence of base stations simplifies routing and resource management in a cellular network as the routing decisions are made in a centralized manner with more information about the destination node. But in an ad hoc wireless network, the routing and resource management are done in a distributed manner in which all nodes coordinate to enable communication among them. This requires each node to be more intelligent so that it can function both as a network host for transmitting and receiving data and as a network router for routing packets from other nodes. Hence the mobile nodes in ad hoc wireless networks are more complex than their counterparts in cellular networks. Applications of Ad Hoc Wireless Networks Ad hoc wireless networks, due to their quick and economically less demanding deployment, find applications in several areas. Some of these include: military applications, collaborative and distributed computing, emergency operations, wireless mesh networks, wireless sensor networks, and hybrid wireless network architectures. 1. Military Applications: Ad hoc wireless networks can be very useful in establishing communication among a group of soldiers for tactical operations. Setting up affixed infrastructure for communication among a group of soldiers in enemy territories or in inhospitable terrains may not be possible. In such environments, ad hoc wireless

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networks provide the required communication mechanism quickly. Another application in this area can be the coordination of military objects moving at high speeds such as fleets of airplanes or warships. As the military applications require very secure communication at any cost, the vehicle-mounted nodes can be assumed to be very sophisticated and powerful. They can have multiple high-power transceivers, each with the ability to hop between different frequencies for security reasons. Such communication systems can be assumed to be equipped with long-life batteries that might not be economically viable for normal usage. Resource constraints such as battery life and transmitting power may not exist in certain types of applications of ad hoc wireless networks. Collaborative and Distributed Computing: The requirement of a temporary communica tion infrastructure for quick communication with minimal configuration among a group of people in a conference or gathering necessitates the formation of an ad hoc wireless network. In such cases, the formation of an ad hoc wireless network with the necessary support for reliable multicast routing can serve the purpose. Other applications such as streaming of multimedia objects among the participating nodes in an ad hoc wireless network may require support for real-time communication. The users of such applications prefer economical and portable devices, usually powered by battery sources. Devices used for such applications could typically be laptops with add-on wireless interface cards, enhanced personal digital assistants (PDAs), or mobile devices with high processing power. Emergency Operations: Wireless ad hoc is very useful in emergency operations such as search and rescue, crowd control, and commando operations. The major factor that favor ad hoc wireless networks for such tasks are self-configuration of the system with minimal overhead, independent of fixed or centralized infrastructure, the nature of the terrain of such applications, the freedom and flexibility of mobility, and the unavailability of conventional communication infrastructure. Wireless Mesh Networks: Wireless mesh networks are ad hoc wireless networks that are formed to provide an alternate communication infrastructure for mobile or fixed nodes/users, without the spectrum reuse constraints and the requirements of network planning of cellular networks. The mesh topology of wireless mesh networks provides many alternate paths for a data transfer session between a source and destination, resulting in quick reconfiguration of the path when the existing path fails due to node failures. Wireless mesh networks provide the most economical data transfer capability coupled with the freedom of mobility. Wireless mesh networks provide very high availability compared to the existing cellular architecture, where the presence of a fixed base station that covers a much larger area involves the risk of a single point of failure. Wireless Sensor Networks: Sensor networks are a special category of ad hoc wireless networks that are used to provide a wireless communication infrastructure among the sensors deployed in a specific application domain. Recent advances in wireless

communication technology and research in ad hoc wireless networks have made smart sensing a reality. Sensor nodes are tiny devices that have the capability of sensing physical parameters, processing the data gathered, and communicating over the network to the monitoring station. A sensor network is a collection of a large number of sensor nodes that are deployed in a particular region. 6. Hybrid Wireless Networks: One of the major applications areas of ad hoc wireless networks is in hybrid wireless architectures such as multi-hop cellular networks (MCNs) and integrated cellular and ad hoc relay (iCAR) network. The tremendous growth in the subscriber base of existing cellular networks has shrunk the cell size up to the pico-cell level. MCNs combine the reliability and support of fixed base stations of cellular networks with flexibility and multi-hop relaying of ad hoc wireless networks.

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Mobile Node Fig. MCN architecture

MCN communication

The above Fig depicts the MCN architecture. In this architecture, when two nodes in the same cell want to communicate with each other, the connection is routed through multiple wireless hops over the intermediate nodes. The base station, which may or may not be involved in multihop path, maintains the information about the topology of the network for efficient routing. Suppose node A wants to communicate with node B. If all nodes are capable of operating in MCN mode, node A can reach node B directly if the node B is within node As transmission range. When node C wants to communicate with node E and both are in the same cell, node C

can reach node E through node D, which acts as an intermediate relay node. Such hybrid wireless networks can provide high capacity resulting in lowering the cost of communication to less than in single-hop cellular networks. SENSOR NETWORKS: A sensor network consists of multiple detection stations called sensor nodes, each of which is small, lightweight and portable. Every sensor node is equipped with a transducer, microcomputer, transceiver and power source. The transducer generates electrical signals based on sensed physical effects and phenomena. The microcomputer processes and stores the sensor output. The transceiver, which can be hard-wired or wireless, receives commands from a central computer and transmits data to that computer. The power for each sensor node is derived from the electric utility or from a battery. Each node of the sensor network consists of three subsystems: the sensor subsystem which senses the environment, the processing subsystem which performs local computations on the sensed data, and the communication subsystem which is responsible for message exchange with neighboring sensor nodes. Applications of sensor networks Sensor nodes are used in a variety of applications which require constant monitoring and detection of specific events. 1. Military applications: The military applications of sensor nodes include battlefield surveillance and monitoring, guidance systems of intelligent missiles, and detection of attack by weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical, biological, or nuclear. 2. Environmental application: Sensors are also used in environmental applications such as forest fire and flood detection, and habitat exploration of animals. 3. Patient diagnosis and monitoring: Patients can wear small sensor devices that monitor their physiological data such as heart rate or blood pressure. The data collected can be sent regularly over the network to automated monitoring systems which are designed to alert the concerned doctor on detection of an anomaly. Sensor nodes can also be made sophisticated enough to correctly identify allergies and prevent wrong diagnosis. 4. Smart home monitoring: Smart sensor nodes can be built into appliances at home, such as ovens, refrigerators, and vacuum cleaners, which enable them to interact with each other and be remote-controlled. The home can provide a smart environment which adapts itself according to the users tastes. 5. Tracking: The application of wireless sensor network to the passive localization and tracking of non-cooperative targets. Warehouses could improve their control system by installing sensors on the products to track their movement. 6. Agriculture: Using wireless sensor networks within the agricultural industry are increasingly common; using a wireless network frees the farmer from the maintenance of

wiring in a difficult environment. Gravity feed water systems can be monitored using pressure transmitters to monitor water tank levels, pumps can be controlled using wireless I/O devices and water use can be measured and wirelessly transmitted back to a central control center for billing. Irrigation automation enables more efficient water use and reduces waste. Wireless sensor networks are also used to control the temperature and humidity levels inside commercial greenhouses. Comparison with Ad Hoc Wireless Networks While both ad hoc wireless networks and sensor networks consist of wireless nodes communicating with each other, there are certain challenges posed by sensor networks. The number of nodes in a sensor network can be several orders of magnitude larger than the number of nodes in ad hoc network. Sensor nodes are more prone to failure and energy drain, and their battery sources are usually not replaceable or rechargeable. Sensor nodes may not have unique global identifiers, so unique addressing is not always feasible in sensor networks. Sensor networks are data-centric, that is, the queries in sensor network are addressed to nodes which have data satisfying some conditions. For instance, a query may be addressed to nodes in the south-east quadrant, or to all nodes which have recorded a temperature greater than 30oC. on the other hand, ad hoc networks are address-centric, with queries addressed to particular nodes are specified by their unique address. Hence, sensor networks require a different mechanism for routing and answering queries. Most routing protocols used in ad hoc networks cannot be directly ported to sensor networks because of limitations in memory, power, and processing capabilities in the sensor nodes and the non-scalable nature of the protocols.