Optimized Hexagon-Based Deployment for Large-Scale Ubiquitous Sensor Networks

Ubiquitous Sensor Network describes an application platform comprised of intelligently networked sensors deployed over a large area, supporting multiple application scenarios. On one hand, at the user-end, storing and managing the large amount of heterogeneous data generated by the network is a daunting task. On the other hand, at the network-end, ensuring network connectivity and longevity in a dynamically changing network environment, while trying to provide context-aware application data to the end-users are very challenging for the resource constrained sensor network. While cloud computing offers a cost-effective solution for storage of the large volume of data generated by the underlying heterogeneous network, an equally elegant solution does not exist on the network interface to provide application-aware data. In this paper, we propose the use of cognitive nodes (CNs) in the underlying sensor network to provide intelligent information processing and knowledge-based services to the end-users. We identify tools and techniques to implement the cognitive functionality and formulate a strategy for the deployment of CNs in the underlying sensor network to ensure a high probability of successful data reception among communicating nodes. From Matlab simulations, we were able to verify that in a network with randomly deployed sensor nodes, CNs can be strategically deployed at pre-determined positions, to deliver application-aware data that satisfies the end-user’s quality of information requirements, even at high application payloads.