Title: Energy-efficient image transmission in sensor networks

Authors: Vincent Lecuire, Cristian Duran-Faundez, Nicolas Krommenacker

Addresses: Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy (CRAN – UMR 7039), Nancy-Universite, CNRS, Faculte des Sciences et Techniques, BP 239, F-54506 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy Cedex, France. ' Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy (CRAN – UMR 7039), Nancy-Universite, CNRS, Faculte des Sciences et Techniques, BP 239, F-54506 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy Cedex, France. ' Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy (CRAN – UMR 7039), Nancy-Universite, CNRS, Faculte des Sciences et Techniques, BP 239, F-54506 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy Cedex, France

Abstract: In this paper, we propose two image transmission schemes driven by energy efficiency considerations in order to be suitable for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The first one is an open-loop image transmission scheme while the second one is closed-loop. Both schemes are based on wavelet image transform and semi-reliable transmission to achieve energy conservation. Wavelet image transform provides data decomposition in multiple levels of resolution, so the image can be divided into packets with different priorities. Semi-reliable transmission enables priority-based packet discarding by intermediate nodes according to their battery|s state-of-charge. Such an image transmission approach provides a graceful trade-off between the image quality played out and the sensor nodes| lifetime. An analytical study in terms of dissipated energy is performed to compare our two schemes to a fully reliable image transmission scheme. Since image processing is computationally intensive and operates on a large data set, the cost of the wavelet image transform is considered in the energy consumption analysis. Results show up to 70% and 90% reductions in energy consumption with the open-loop and closed-loop schemes, respectively, compared to a non-energy-aware one, with a guarantee for the image quality to be lower-bounded.

Keywords: wireless sensor networks; WSN; image communication; energy conservation; wireless networks; wavelet image transform; image quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSNET.2008.019250

International Journal of Sensor Networks, 2008 Vol.4 No.1/2, pp.37 - 47

Published online: 04 Jul 2008 *

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