Title: Actor coordination using info-gap decision theory in wireless sensor and actor networks

Authors: S. Chinnappen-Rimer; Gerhard P. Hancke

Addresses: Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa. ' ISG Smart Card Centre, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK; Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract: Mobile, unmanned, power and resource-rich devices, called actors, deployed within a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) application area, enable faster response times to events. Due to cost constraints, only a few actors can be placed within a WSN application area. Determining which actor or set of actors should respond to an event is important, because the correct decision will increase the event response time and reduce energy expenditure. Since the mobile actors are widely dispersed over the application area, the actors’ accurate location and energy details will not always be available. In this paper, we show that using info-gap decision theory to choose the correct actors to respond to an event when uncertainty about an actor’s location and/or energy exists ensures that the actors chosen can adequately respond to the event. The robustness of the decision choice of the set of actor(s) assigned to respond to an event means that all chosen actor(s) have sufficient energy to respond to the event in real time.

Keywords: info-gap decision theory; wireless sensor and actor networks; actor coordination; wireless sensor networks; WSNs; uncertainty; decision theory; wireless networks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSNET.2011.042769

International Journal of Sensor Networks, 2011 Vol.10 No.4, pp.177 - 191

Published online: 04 Oct 2011 *

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