A Low-Power Multi-Radio Wireless Network for Mobile Asset Tracking

This paper proposes a hierarchical wireless system for real-time tracking of moving assets. There are multiple layers of wirelessly connected assets that need to be tracked. The small items, such as bottles, packed in a box are monitored by a sensor module contained within each box. All boxes shipped in a cargo truck form an ad hoc network that adapts to the battery level and link quality. A small subset of boxes are dynamically selected to report sensor information to a backend server. A wireless networking protocol is proposed to minimize the power consumption based on available energy and wireless link conditions in the distributed hierarchical system. The system is validated by simulation and prototype implementations.