Green Wireless Video Sensor Networks Using Low Power Out-of-Band Signalling

The availability of low cost networked wireless devices and video cameras is enabling wireless video sensor networks (WVSNs), which can be used in scenarios such as healthcare, agriculture, smart cities, intelligent transportation systems, and surveillance. These scenarios typically require that each node sends a video stream to a server located in the cloud. The IEEE 802.11 is considered a suitable technology for transmitting video wirelessly, as it supports high data rates. However, when using a multi-hop topology to extend the IEEE 802.11 coverage, the IEEE 802.11-based WVSNs suffer from three problems: low network capacity, throughput unfairness, and energy inefficiency. To overcome these problems, we propose a holistic solution, named Green wiReless vidEo sENsor NEtworks uSing out-of-band Signalling (GREENNESS). GREENNESS combines a node polling mechanism with the use of out-of-band signaling over a low power radio to signal when a video sensor should switch ON and OFF its IEEE 802.11 interface, thus saving energy. The results obtained for random network topologies show that GREENNESS can achieve energy savings up to 92%, and improve network capacity and throughput fairness when compared to state of the art CSMA/CA-based WVSN solutions.