Energy-efficient coverage and connectivity of wireless sensor network in the framework of hybrid sensor and vehicular network

Abstract

Hybrid Sensor and Vehicular Network (HSVN) merges both Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) and Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) to create a framework of collaboration between the two networks. The main objective of this collaboration is to provide real-time detection of dangerous road conditions for the improvement of road safety. To create a reliable HSVN, coverage and connectivity problems of WSN represent the most fundamental issues to ensure an effective road sensing and a robust data communication in HSVN applications. In this respect, we have proposed a distributed protocol for ensuring both coverage and connectivity of WSN in the framework of HSVN. The proposed protocol ensures the detection of any event occurring on the road and the connectivity between sensor nodes even in the case of sensor node failure. Also, the energy consumption is reduced by keeping only a minimum number of sensor nodes in active state. The WSN lifetime is extended by balancing the energy consumption among all sensor nodes and by allowing the sensor nodes to serve alternatively as a gateway which is responsible for reporting any detected event to the passing vehicles. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol achieves 100% of road coverage and energy consumption is improved up to 14%. The proposed protocol is reliable in the case of sensor node failure; coverage and connectivity are improved up to 13% and 87%, respectively, in the case of 30% of failed sensor nodes. These results indicate that the proposed protocol is promising as it outperforms the existing ones.

KEYWORDS:

• Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET)
• Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)
• Hybrid Sensor and Vehicular Network (HSVN)
• coverage
• connectivity
• energy consumption

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebiha Souadih

Rebiha Souadih is a Ph.D. student and member of the research unit LaMOS at the University of Bejaia (Algeria). She received her engineer and magister degrees in computer science from the university of Bejaia in 2010 and 2014, respectively. She is currently working as teacher-researcher at the University of Bejaia since 2015. Her research interests include wireless sensor networks, vehicular ad hoc networks and hybrid sensor and vehicular networks.

Fouzi Semchedine

Fouzi Semchedine is currently a Full Professor at the University of Setif, Algeria. He received his Ph.D. in 2011 in computer science from the University of Bejaia, (Algeria). He works in the area of routing, security and quality of service aspects in wireless sensor networks, vehicular networks and hybrid sensor and vehicular networks. He interests also to the localization problem and the compression of data in wireless networks. Actually, he is a head of the research project ‘Security and Reliability of Wireless Networks (Ad hoc and Sensors)’, code: B*00620130027.