Efficient and Reliable Aerial Communication With Wireless Sensors

Abstract

This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a first of its kind cross-layer protocol for wireless communication between flying agents and terrestrial wireless sensors. The protocol is comprised of 3 layers: a new application layer built upon a modified implementation of ContikiMAC over the IEEE 802.15.4 2.4 GHz physical layer. Experimental evaluation shows the protocol to have excellent energy efficiency, low latency and high reliability-approaching 100% for certain parameter settings and operational conditions. The effects of speed, altitude and direction of approach are also experimentally evaluated, demonstrating that it is of critical importance to take these into account when planning mobile aerial data collection campaigns.

A Flexible, Low-Power Platform for UAV-Based Data Collection From Remote Sensors

“…In general, UAVs use information from sensors to perform actions including adjusting route and speed, obstacle avoidance [7], [8], and object tracking [9]. However, precision landing is still an unsolved problem in the UAV research field [4]. In [10], the authors discuss design considerations and present a system that allows a drone to fly to remote locations, and to wireless charge difficult to access sensors.…”

“…The purpose of this paper is threefold, enabling WPT for hard to access sensor nodes with precision landing support for UAVs and fast bi-directional data transfer. Qin et al propose the first concept of a three stage localisation mechanism in [4]. The paper provides a solid basis to develop maximally efficient wireless power transfer mechanisms to recharge static sensors using a combination of GPS, Bluetooth Low Energy and WPT to find the optimal position from which to transmit power.…”

“…The paper provides a solid basis to develop maximally efficient wireless power transfer mechanisms to recharge static sensors using a combination of GPS, Bluetooth Low Energy and WPT to find the optimal position from which to transmit power. Due to the adopted signal strength indicator (RSSI) method for the position estimation, they suffer from a high packet loss, in reality relying only on the GNSS and WPT [4]. The system proposed in this paper leverages the considerations in [4] as a starting point for the proposed lowpower sensor platform, using the UWB position estimation instead of RSSI to enable precision localisation.…”

“…In addition to reliable throughput and low power operation [3], [4], communications protocols designed for these purposes must also contribute to precise localisation in support of wireless charging, where sub-metre accuracy is required for inductive wireless power transfer. Although transceivers implementing the aforementioned wireless technologies offer received signal strength indicators (RSSI) that can be used for ranging, it is well understood that this measure is insufficiently accurate or granular for the purposes of sub-metre localisation [5].…”

Reckoning Network Lifetime Ratio for Wireless Sensor Network

“…In order to have a better aerial communication a new application layer is provided which will have ContikiMAC layer along with IEEE 802.15.4 2.4 GHz physical layer. With this modification better efficiency energy, high reliability is obtained [2].…”