Self-organization of activity in wireless sensor networks

We propose a method for managing the spontaneous organization of sensor activity in ad hoc wireless sensor systems. The wireless sensors exchange messages to coordinate responses to requests for sensing data, and to control the fraction of sensors which are active. This method can be used to manage a variety of sensor activities. In particular, it can be used for reducing the power consumption by battery operated devices when only low resolution sensing is required, thus increasing their operation lifetimes.