Spatio-Temporal Query Processing Over Sensor Networks: Challenges, State Of The Art And Future Directions

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are likely to be more prevalent as their cost-effectiveness improves. The spectrum of applications for WSNs spans multiple domains. In environmental sciences, in particular, they are on the way to become an essential technology for monitoring the natural environment and the dynamic behavior of transient physical phenomena over space. Existing sensor network query processors (SNQPs) have also demonstrated that in-network processing is an effective and efficient means of interaction with WSNs for performing queries over live data. Inspired by these findings, this paper investigates the question as to whether spatio-temporal and historical analysis can be carried over WSNs using distributed query-processing techniques. The emphasis of this work is on the spatial, temporal and historical aspects of sensed data, which are not adequately addressed in existing SNQPs. This paper surveys the novel approaches of storing the data and execution of spatio-temporal and historical queries. We introduce the challenges and opportunities of research in the field of in-network storage and in-network spatio-temporal query processing as well as illustrate the current status of research in this field. We also present new areas where the spatio-temporal and historical query processing can be of significant importance.