Agent-based topology control for wireless sensor network applications

Complexity of design, development and deployment of software for wireless sensor networks is high, and even more exacerbated by ad-hoc nature of some network deployments and the need for high adaptability to varying internal and environmental factors. In this paper the authors present a model of distributed application based on a set of application specific roles/functional modules. Deployment and runtime adaptation of application topology is achieved by controlling role activity on each of the network nodes, thus forming a functional application instance for a specific sensor network. Application control decisions are delegated to agents located on sensor nodes, and based on a set of role-specific utility functions. Existing wireless sensor network system for vehicle detection and classification is refactored according to the proposed model, modeled in a sensor network simulator and simulation results presented.