Reliable positioning with hybrid antenna model for aerial wireless sensor and actor networks

Aerial wireless sensor and actor networks are composed of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles. An actor node in the network has the capabilities of both acting on the environment and also performing networking functionalities for sensor nodes. Thus, positioning of actors is critical for the efficient data collection. In this paper, we propose an actor positioning strategy, which utilizes a hybrid antenna model that combines the complimentary features of an isotropic omni radio and directional antennas. We present a distributed algorithm for fast neighbor discovery with the hybrid antenna. The omni module of the hybrid antenna is used to form a self organizing network and the directional module is used for reliable data transmission. Extensive simulations show that our protocol improves the packet reception ratio by up to 50% compared to omnidirectional antenna. Moreover, the network reorganization delay is also reduced. The tradeoff between coverage and reorganization delay is also illustrated.