Energy Efficient Probabilistic Switching ON-OFF Operation in Multiantenna Cooperative Wireless Sensor Networks

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Telecommunications

Background:

• Internet of Things (IoT) applications require robust, scalable, and long-lasting wireless sensor networks (WSNs).
• Key challenges include ensuring reliable data delivery and extending the operational lifetime of network nodes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate cooperative WSN performance using multi-antenna schemes.
• To investigate the impact of antenna selection (AS) and singular value decomposition (SVD) beamforming on information transmission and network lifetime.
• To analyze the energy-saving benefits of probabilistic relay activation (ON-OFF probability).

Main Methods:

• Implemented and evaluated two multi-antenna schemes: antenna selection (AS) and beamforming transmission (SVD).
• Introduced an ON-OFF probability for relay activation to conserve energy.
• Assessed network performance under an outage probability constraint.

Main Results:

• Combined AS and SVD significantly increased the amount of effectively transmitted information.
• The antenna selection (AS) scheme showed particular effectiveness at short transmission distances.
• Increased antenna count allowed for a lower ON-OFF probability, indicating a trade-off between hardware complexity and cooperation needs.

Conclusions:

• Cooperative WSNs employing multi-antenna techniques offer substantial improvements in data transmission efficiency.
• Probabilistic relay activation is an effective strategy for energy conservation and extending WSN lifetime.
• There is a discernible trade-off between the number of antennas and the necessity for cooperative strategies.