Comparative Performance Evaluation for Information Distribution Methods in Satellite-based Sensor Networks

The advances in satellite networking and material science enabled the deployment of low cost and low power small sized sensors that can transmit information through satellite channel to remotely located host. Earth stations represent sink nodes of the sensor network and often, for safety reasons, they are rebounded. In this environment, controlled information distribution methods may play a crucial role and represent a sensible field of investigation. In particular, distribution methods proposed in the paper are aimed at guaranteeing the lower energy consumption and the lower level of congestion in the network. The paper includes: the presentation of the application environment composed of sensor networks and sink Earth stations; the introduction of the sinks management functions and the description of the flooding-based techniques used to propagate information through the network; an introductive comparison of the performance in terms of energy consumption and total time spent in the sensor network