Simulating Distributed Wireless Sensor Networks for Edge-AI

This paper presents the simulation of distributed wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consisting of autonomous mobile nodes that communicate, with or without a central/root node, as desired for edge artificial intelligence (edge-AI). We harness the high-resolution and multidimensional sensing characteristics of IEEE 802.15.4 standard and Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) to implement dynamic, asynchronous, event-driven, targeted communication in distributed WSNs. We choose Contiki-NG/Cooja to simulate two WSNs, one with and the other without a root node. The simulations are assessed on the network Quality of Service (QoS) parameters such as throughput, network lifetime, power consumption, and packet delivery ratio. The simulation outputs show that the sensor nodes at the edge communicate successfully with the specific targets responding to particular events in an autonomous and asynchronous manner. The performance is slightly degraded when using the RPL WSN with a root node. This work shows how to simulate and evaluate distributed WSNs using the Cooja simulator which would be useful for designing such networks for edge-AI applications, such as visual surveillance, monitoring in assisted living facilities, intelligent transportation with connected vehicles, automated factory floors, immersive social media experience, and so on.