An OFDMA communication protocol for wireless sensor networks used for leakage detection in underground water infrastructures

In this paper, an application of wireless sensor networks for leakage detection in underground water pipes is considered. A mobile sensor immersed in the water pipe is assumed to communicate with relay nodes on the ground surface, relaying its measured information to a base station for processing. A communication protocol between the relay nodes and the base station is presented. The proposed protocol is based on probabilistic reservation of transmission slots based on channel knowledge. The proposed protocol can be considered as an OFDMA extension of the reservation Aloha protocol. Simulation results show the superiority of the proposed communication approach.