Wireless Sensor Network Simulation with OMNeT++
Pekkarinen, Esko (2014)
2014
Sähkötekniikan koulutusohjelma
Tieto- ja sähkötekniikan tiedekunta - Faculty of Computing and Electrical Engineering
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2014-05-05
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201405221190
http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201405221190
Tiivistelmä
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are an emerging technology for a broad spectrum of applications. A WSN can consist even hundreds of thousands of devices measuring, controlling and relaying the collected date. The devices often have to endure harsh environments and operate unattended for long periods of time. Wireless communication and energy-awareness are mandatory to meet these objective. It is evident that the design of WSNs is challenging.
Simulation tools enables fast exploration of the desing space and comparison of options in early design phases. In WSN research simulation can be applied to performance estimation of the communication protocols, device functionality and applications. Most of the current network simulators focus on Internet protocols and are not viable for WSN simulation. All the essential aspects of WSNs must be accounted for in the simulation.
This Thesis discusses the applicability of Objective Modular Network Testbed in C++ (OMNeT++) simulation framework for low-power WSN research. Two simulation cases are implemented. The first models a hierarchical wakeup function in a surveillance application. Low-power devices monitor the target area and wake up other devices with video cameras on demand. The simulation shows that hierarchical wake up mechanisms may significantly improve the WSN energy-efficiency. The second simulation evaluates the applicability of a positioning algorihtm in WSNs. It indicates that low-energy positioning in WSN could be feasible using simple distance estimates.
The requirements for a WSN simulator are strict. First, the results must be reliable and accurate. Second, the simulator has to scale with the number of devices in the network with reasonable execution time. Finally, it must be able to model events in both device and network scale. Based on the experience of two simulation cases OMNeT++ proved to be extensible and scalable tool fit for WSN research. However, much like other simulation tools, OMNeT++ is prone to produce too optimistic results.
Simulation tools enables fast exploration of the desing space and comparison of options in early design phases. In WSN research simulation can be applied to performance estimation of the communication protocols, device functionality and applications. Most of the current network simulators focus on Internet protocols and are not viable for WSN simulation. All the essential aspects of WSNs must be accounted for in the simulation.
This Thesis discusses the applicability of Objective Modular Network Testbed in C++ (OMNeT++) simulation framework for low-power WSN research. Two simulation cases are implemented. The first models a hierarchical wakeup function in a surveillance application. Low-power devices monitor the target area and wake up other devices with video cameras on demand. The simulation shows that hierarchical wake up mechanisms may significantly improve the WSN energy-efficiency. The second simulation evaluates the applicability of a positioning algorihtm in WSNs. It indicates that low-energy positioning in WSN could be feasible using simple distance estimates.
The requirements for a WSN simulator are strict. First, the results must be reliable and accurate. Second, the simulator has to scale with the number of devices in the network with reasonable execution time. Finally, it must be able to model events in both device and network scale. Based on the experience of two simulation cases OMNeT++ proved to be extensible and scalable tool fit for WSN research. However, much like other simulation tools, OMNeT++ is prone to produce too optimistic results.