Overcoming the Communication Challenges in Wireless Sensor and Actuat or Networks Isolated using DTN T echnologies

Abstract

Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSAN) have represented a significant advance in wireless communication environments and their convergence with the phenomenon called the Internet of Things (IoT). One of the challenges studied in the WSAN field is to propose communication mechanisms to interconnect wireless sensor networks in isolated areas. Various studies have revealed the difficulty of achieving connectivity in this type of network. In this sense, we address the challenge of interconnecting isolated WSANs, which do not have end-to-end connection, with the Internet network infrastructure. For this, we consider the following characteristics of these environments, disruptive communications, long delays; devices with limited resources, very short transfer times and in contexts of mobility. We propose an integrated architecture that allows us to offer a service management framework based on the capabilities provided by WSAN, through an infrastructure based on cloud technologies. The functionalities that characterize service architectures in telecommunication networks and the integration of WSAN with cloud-based architectures are analyzed. Architectural capabilities such as Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Machine Type Communication (MTC) are considered. The proposed architecture allows deliver applications and services can be reachable and shared with any host connected to Internet. WSAN data, hosted at remote sites or with limited communications, can be processed, stored and analyzed in the cloud, or locally by components of the architecture. The communication with the sensor network and actuators, is iterant, because of architecture provides support for long-delayed and disruptive tolerant services.