An ant swarm-inspired energy-aware routing protocol for wireless ad-hoc networks

Primitive routing protocols for ad-hoc networks are “power hungry” and can therefore consume considerable amount of the limited amount of battery power resident in the nodes. Thus, routing in ad-hoc networks is very much energy-constrained. Continuous drainage of energy degrades battery performance as well. If a battery is allowed to intermittently remain in an idle state, it recovers some of its lost charge due to the charge recovery effect, which, in turn, results in prolonged battery life.In this paper, we use the ideas of naturally occurring ants’ foraging behavior (Dorigo and Stuetzle, 2004) [1] and based on those ideas, we design an energy-aware routing protocol, which not only incorporates the effect of power consumption in routing a packet, but also exploits the multi-path transmission properties of ant swarms and, hence, increases the battery life of a node. The efficiency of the protocol with respect to some of the existing ones has been established through simulations. It has been observed that the energy consumed in the network, the energy per packet in the case of EAAR are 60% less compared to MMBCR and the packets lost is only around 12% of what we have in AODV, in mobility scenarios.     

Cluster Size Optimization in Sensor Networks with Decentralized Cluster-Based Protocols

Network lifetime and energy-efficiency are viewed as the dominating considerations in designing cluster-based communication protocols for wireless sensor networks. This paper analytically provides the optimal cluster size that minimizes the total energy expenditure in such networks, where all sensors communicate data through their elected cluster heads to the base station in a decentralized fashion. LEACH, LEACH-Coverage, and DBS comprise three cluster-based protocols investigated in this paper that do not require any centralized support from a certain node. The analytical outcomes are given in the form of closed-form expressions for various widely-used network configurations. Extensive simulations on different networks are used to confirm the expectations based on the analytical results. To obtain a thorough understanding of the results, cluster number variability problem is identified and inspected from the energy consumption point of view.     

Distributed computing for carbon footprint reduction by exploiting low-footprint energy availability

Low carbon footprint energy sources such as solar and wind power typically suffer from unpredictable or limited availability. By globally distributing a number of these renewable sources, these effects can largely be compensated for. We look at the feasibility of this approach for powering already distributed data centers in order to operate at a reduced total carbon footprint. From our study we show that carbon footprint reductions are possible, but that these are highly dependent on the approach and parameters involved. Especially the manufacturing footprint and the geographical region are critical parameters to consider. Deploying additional data centers can help in reducing the total carbon footprint, but substantial reductions can be achieved when data centers with nominal capacity well below maximum capacity redistribute processing to sites based on renewable energy availability.     

虚拟MIMO无线传感器网络的传输模式

无线传感器网络(wirelesssensor networks,WSN)是由大量低成本、低功耗、具备感知能力、计算能力和无线通信能力的微型传感器节点通过自组织方式构成的网络。多入多出(Multiple-Input Multiple-Output,MIMO)技术是指在发送端和接收端采用多天线,MIMO技术可在不增加频谱资源和天线发送功率的情况下,成倍地提高信道容量,是新一代移动通信系统采用的关键技术。将虚拟MIMO技术引入无线传感器网络,可以利用MIMO技术带来的分集增益,增加接收端信号的信号强度,通过分集来克服信道衰落的影响;也可以利用MIMO技术提供的复用增益,提高信息速率,大大改善网络的能耗特性。本文介绍了虚拟MIMO技术在无线传感器网络中的应用,针对中小规模传感器网络,设计了一种基于分簇的能量高效协作式虚拟MIMO传输模式。并对虚拟MIMO无线传感器网络的能效性进行了分析,最后总结了研究的关键问题以及未来的发展趋势和研究方向。     

无线传感器网络覆盖控制技术研究

无线传感器网络具有广泛的应用背景,目前已经发展成为一个重要的计算平台。但是,由于无线传感器网络自身的特点,使其也面临许多问题,如何有效地进行覆盖控制,在保证网络覆盖质量的前提下,减少能量消耗,延长网络寿命是其中最重要的问题之一。覆盖控制可以使无线传感器网络的资源得到优化分配,更好地完成环境监测、信息获取和数据传输等任务。本文总结了近年来提出的各种覆盖控制问题的、具有代表性的研究成果,并对相关覆盖控制协议与算法进行了分析比较,最后指出了目前覆盖控制技术存在的问题,对全文进行总结。     

WSN节能设计研究现状

传感器网（WSN）综合了传感器技术、嵌入式计算技术、通信技术等，在人无法或很难到达的地方具有很高的利用价值。传感器网络能够应用于军事和民用方面，然而传感器网络中的节点数量众多，体积小，能量受限，因此如何降低节点的能量消耗。延长网络的寿命显的极为重要。文章介绍了传感器网络的结构，总结了传感器网络中的节能算法和协议，并提出了今后发展的方向。     

WSN节能设计研究现状

传感器网络(WSN)综合了传感器技术、嵌入式计算技术、通信技术等,在人无法或很难到达的地方具有很高的利用价值。传感器网络能够应用于军事和民用方面,然而传感器网络中的节点数量众多,体积小,能量受限,因此如何降低节点的能量消耗,延长网络的寿命显的极为重要。文章介绍了传感器网络的结构,总结了传感器网络中的节能算法和协议,并提出了今后发展的方向。     

基于能效优化的WSNs多径流量分配路由算法

该文针对传感器节点能量受限的特点建立能效优化模型,该模型兼顾网络传输能耗和能耗均衡特性,以最大化网络节点总剩余能量和最小化剩余能量的方差为目标,通过合理分配多条路径的流量来优化网络能效。利用权衡评价函数实现了模型的求解,进而提出一种多径流量分配路由(MFAR)算法。仿真实验表明,该算法能够合理配置各路径流量,显著提高网络能量效率,达到在降低网络能耗的同时保证能耗分布均衡的目标。     

Evening office lighting – visual comfort vs. energy efficiency vs. performance?

During the study presented in this article, we compared two highly energy-efficient lighting scenarios for evening office lighting (i.e. electric lighting that is typically used for approxiamately 2 h in the evening). The first of these lighting scenarios (referred to as “Reference”-scenario, Lighting Power Density or LPD of 4.5 W/m²) has been successfully in use in many office rooms of the Solar Energy and Building Physics Laboratory’s experimental building, located on the campus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, for several years. The second lighting scenario (referred to as “Test”-scenario, Lighting Power Density of 3.9 W/m²) is more energy-efficient, creates higher workplane illuminances but leads to an increased risk of discomfort glare. The aim of this study was to meticulously compare the two lighting scenarios in order to find a lighting solution for evening office lighting that offers an optimal trade-off between energy-efficiency, visual comfort and visual performance.     

Thermodynamic perfectibility based analysis of energy-efficiency standards for air conditioning products in China

There are presently different types of air conditioning products in China such as room air conditioners, variable speed room air conditioners, unity air conditioners, multi-connected air-condition (heat pump) unit, chilled water air conditioning systems. For these air conditioning products, evaluation indexes have been created, respectively including energy efficiency ratio (EER), coefficient of performance (COP), seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) and integrated part load value (IPLV), and their energy efficiency standards have been established. Based on thermodynamic perfectibility, this paper makes the compatible analysis of the energy efficiency and thermodynamic perfectibility gradient of energy efficiency standards for different air conditioning products. According to testing conditions of evaluation indexes, these air conditioning products are classified into two groups, the standard rating conditions group (EER, COP) and the variable working condition group (SEER, IPLV). The results show the thermodynamic perfectibility of different air conditioning products grade as the same level for energy efficiency standards in each group differ from one another. Besides, the average thermodynamic perfectibility gradient of energy efficiency levels for air conditioning product in the standard rating conditions group is basically the same, and that of variable speed room air conditioners and multi-connected air-condition (heat pump) unit are the highest and lowest, respectively.