Mobile Sensor-Cloud for Rendering Sensors-as-a-Service

This article proposes the mobile sensor-cloud (MSC) architecture and theoretically characterizes it. The existing literature on sensor-cloud (SC) assumes stationarity of nodes, which limits the use of the associated theoretical models in mobile platforms. This article attempts to address this research lacuna by proposing a model for enabling mobile sensor-as-a-service and analyzing its performance. An MSC, typically, orchestrates interoperation of multiple mobile sensors with stationary ones. Present day mobile devices are equipped with an assortment of built-in sensors such as accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, and vibration. Considering the inherent mobility of these sensors by virtue of the mobility of their host platforms, it is important to characterize the MSC. We propose the concept of
virtualization
of mobile sensor nodes in the SC, which is one of the first attempts of its type. Additionally, in this article, we discuss the problems encountered due to the random mobility of mobile devices registered in the SC. Thereafter, we provide a possible solution to the problem by the reallocation of suitable physical mobile sensor nodes to an existing virtual sensor with available resources. Analytical results reveal that the lifespan of the network increases by 80%–90% in MSC, compared to the traditional SC. On the other hand, unlike traditional SC, twice the number of sensor-owners get the opportunity to participate in an MSC. However, in an MSC, an end-user pays similar amounts for an application involving SC. The mobility of devices creates opportunities for the sensor owners to appropriately utilize the available resources in the virtual sensors, which justifies the observed results.