Energy Controlled Reporting for Industrial Monitoring Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper proposes a technique to extend the lifetime of a wireless sensor network through a combination of energy management and information control. Each sensor node locally decides its own network involvement as a result of balancing available energy resources with the information content of each packet. The information content is ascertained through a system of rules which describe prospective events in the sensed environment. These rules specify when reporting should occur, and the importance of each packet. While energy management and information content have been individually considered elsewhere, our technique utilizes a combination of both to incur greater benefits. Results obtained from a simulation depicting an industrial wireless sensor network (WSN) monitoring a water pumping station have shown that a considerable increase in lifetime and connectivity can be obtained. In addition, when coupled with energy harvesting, our technique permits sustained operation.