A Qualitative Comparison of Different Logical Topologies for Wireless Sensor Networks

Quazi Mamun

doi:10.3390/s121114887

Abstract

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are formed by a large collection of power-conscious wireless-capable sensors without the support of pre-existing infrastructure, possibly by unplanned deployment. With a sheer number of sensor nodes, their unattended deployment and hostile environment very often preclude reliance on physical configuration or physical topology. It is, therefore, often necessary to depend on the logical topology. Logical topologies govern how a sensor node communicates with other nodes in the network. In this way, logical topologies play a vital role for resource-constraint sensor networks. It is thus more intuitive to approach the constraint minimizing problems from (logical) topological point of view. Hence, this paper aims to study the logical topologies of WSNs. In doing so, a set of performance metrics is identified first. We identify various logical topologies from different application protocols of WSNs, and then compare the topologies using the set of performance metrics.

Highlights

IntroductionIn Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), topology plays a vital role in minimizing various constraints, such as limited energy, latency, computational resource crisis, and quality of communication
In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), topology plays a vital role in minimizing various constraints, such as limited energy, latency, computational resource crisis, and quality of communication.For example, energy consumption is proportional to the number of packets sent or received.The receiving cost depends on packet size, while the transmission energy depends on the distance between the nodes
This paper focuses on two major issues, namely (i) the system model of the WSN, which would be used throughout the paper, and (ii) the list of performance metrics to evaluate existing topologies

Summary

Introduction

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), topology plays a vital role in minimizing various constraints, such as limited energy, latency, computational resource crisis, and quality of communication. The receiving cost depends on packet size, while the transmission energy depends on the distance between the nodes. As topology inherently defines the type of routing paths, indicates whether to Sensors 2012, 12 use broadcast or unicast, determines the sizes and types of packets and other overheads, choosing the right topology helps to reduce the amount of communication needed for a particular problem and save energy. An efficient topology, which ensures that neighbours are at a minimal distance, reduces the probability of message being lost between sensors. Topology facilitates data aggregation, which greatly reduces the amount of processing cycles and energy, giving a longer lifetime for the network

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