Comparison of beam-forming and relaying in Sparse Sensor Networks
by Mikulas Krebs, on Mar 14, 2018 4:25:15 PM
"A wireless ad hoc [or sensor] network (WANET) is a decentralised type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points in managed (infrastructure) wireless networks. Instead, each node participates in routing by forwarding data from other nodes, so the determination of which nodes forward data is made dynamically on the basis of network connectivity. In addition to the classic routing, ad hoc networks can use flooding for forwarding data"(Gupta and Kumar, 2000).
This project is focused on a particular type of network called an ad-hoc network. Ad-hoc and sensor networks are a particular type of wireless networks composed of nodes (or modules) which require no infra- structure and can connect without any pre-established hierarchy. Such networks are very important for environmental, civil, and military applications.
For example, the sensors can measure the temperature or humidity in the soil (environmental), can measure tiny vibrations in the debris of a collapsed building, thus signalling the existence of survivors (civil), or can measure vibrations in the ground signalling a moving person in a forbidden area (military).
These types of networks have huge advantages over classical wireless networks because they require no infrastructure or pre-setup, but with this comes inherent problems which have to be solved. This project focuses on a specific problem present in this type of a network.
