Agents for wireless sensor network power management

The primary function of wireless sensor networks is data acquisition or monitoring of some medium, such as temperature. In many instances these networks are deployed throughout inaccessible or hazardous regions meaning frequent maintenance such as battery replacement is undesirable and in some cases impossible. Intelligent power management for these devices is critical in maximizing the networks life span and ultimately will dictate the success of such deployments. This longevity must, however, be achieved while maintaining the integrity of the sensory data harvested by the network. Due to the inherent distributed nature of wireless sensor networks, intelligent software agents lend themselves to performing this power management in such a distributed domain. In this paper we examine some of the potential decisions an agent may face regarding intelligent power management and we look at how the stronger notion of agency could be employed to allow a richer deliberation regarding potential decisions. Allowing more adaptive control of WSNs in light of their computationally challenged nature.