In-network processing in Wireless Sensor Networks: Novel approaches to distributed data aggregation and compression

Wireless sensor networks are currently an active research area mainly due to the potential of their applications. However, their deployment in large scale still requires solutions to a number of technical challenges that stem primarily from the features of the sensor nodes such as limited computational power, reduced communication bandwidth and small storage capacity. Indeed, sensor nodes are typically powered by batteries with limited capacity which do not guarantee an attractive lifetime of the nodes, unless adequate power saving policies are undertaken. In this book some novel approaches to distributed data aggregation and compression are proposed, inheriting techniques from the computational intelligence world, with the final aim of minimizing the energy consumption of the communication unit. The content should help shed some light on this new and exciting environment, and should be especially useful for sensor networking and embedded systems professionals including development engineers, researchers, system architects, in a wide variety of companies from the defense industry to the home computing and electronics industry.