A pricing scheme for porter based delivery in integrated RFID-Sensor Networks

RFID-Sensor Networks (RSNs) represent the pervasive components of the heterogeneous Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. By incorporating both the identification and localization capabilities of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and the sensing and inter-communication of Wireless sensor networks (WSNs), RSNs are capable of realizing the IoT on a global scale. A pressing hindrance to cost-effectiveness lies in the deployment of high-end relay nodes that potentiate the backbone of the IoT. Paradigms that depend solely on deploying enough readers and relays to maintain network connectivity and coverage, often converge to infeasible costs. In this work we capitalize on pre-existing mobile nodes in the field, dubbed porters, to carry out the relaying task; utilizing their ubiquitous and dense presence and integrating multiple coexisting systems. One of the prominent challenges facing the integration across multiple systems is the trade factor governing their cooperation. That is, what would the porter gain in return for forwarding RSN packets? The pricing scheme governing the operation and trade-off functionality across RSNs is a hindering factor, seldom probed in current literature. In this paper, we introduce a pricing scheme for a delivery framework in RSNs for the IoT paradigm. Our framework incorporates porter nodes with variable mobility, buffering and transfer capacities; connecting relays and base-stations. Our pricing scheme incorporates major factors of impact, most prominently porter and relay density, network load and cost of service delivery. We present a formal model for this framework, elaborated upon with a use case.