Query aggregation for providing efficient data services in sensor networks

Providing efficient data services is one of the fundamental requirements for wireless sensor networks. The data service paradigm requires that the application submit its requests as queries and the sensor network transmits the requested data to the application. While most existing work in this area focuses on data aggregation, not much attention has been paid to query aggregation. For many applications, especially ones with high query rates, query aggregation is very important. We study a query aggregation-based approach for providing efficient data services. In particular: (1) we propose a multi-layered overlay-based framework consisting of a query manager and access points (nodes), where the former provides the query aggregation plan and the latter executes the plan; (2) we design an effective query aggregation algorithm to reduce the number of duplicate/overlapping queries and save overall energy consumption in the sensor network Our performance evaluations show that by applying our query aggregation algorithm, the overall energy consumption can be significantly reduced and the sensor network lifetime can be prolonged correspondingly.