A virtual sensor network (VSN) in

computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...

and

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...

is an emerging form of

collaborative Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Mo ...

wireless sensor network Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) refer to networks of spatially dispersed and dedicated sensors that monitor and record the physical conditions of the environment and forward the collected data to a central location. WSNs can measure environmental c ...

s.VSN concept paper by A. P. Jayasumana, Q. Han, and T. Illangasekare,
Virtual sensor networks – a resource efficient approach for concurrent applications
" In Proc. ITNG 2007, Las Vegas, Apr. 2007. In contrast to early wireless sensor networks that were dedicated to a specific application (e.g., target tracking), VSNs enable multi-purpose, collaborative, and resource efficient WSNs. The key idea difference of VSNs is the collaboration and resource sharing. By doing so nodes achieve application objectives in a more resource efficient way. These networks may further involve dynamically varying subset of

sensor node A sensor node, also known as a mote (chiefly in North America), is a node in a sensor network that is capable of performing some processing, gathering sensory information and communicating with other connected nodes in the network. A mote is a n ...

s (e.g., when the

phenomenon A phenomenon (plural, : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influe ...

migrates sensors that detect the phenomenon changes with time) and/or users (users that are accessing the network changes with time).
A VSN can be formed by providing logical connectivity among collaborative sensors. Nodes can be grouped into different VSNs based on the phenomenon they track (e.g., rock slides vs. animal crossing) or the task they perform. VSNs are expected to provide the protocol support for formation, usage, adaptation, and maintenance of subset of sensors collaborating on a specific task(s). Even the nodes that do not sense the particular event/phenomenon could be part of a VSN as far as they are willing to allow sensing nodes to communicate through them. Thus, VSNs make use of intermediate nodes, networks, or other VSNs to efficiently deliver messages across members of a VSN.

Applications

VSNs are useful in three major classes of applications: * Geographically overlapped applications :* E.g., monitoring

rock slide A rockslide is a type of landslide caused by rock failure in which part of the bedding plane of failure passes through compacted rock and material collapses ''en masse'' and not in individual blocks. Note that a rockslide is similar to an avalanc ...

s and

animal crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo. The series was conceptualized and created by Katsuya Eguchi and Hisashi Nogami. In ''Animal Crossing'', the player character is a human who lives in a village inh ...

within a

mountainous A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

terrain Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin w ...

. Different types of devices that detect these phenomena can relay each other for data transfer without having to

deploy Deployment may refer to: Engineering and software Concepts * Blue-green deployment, a method of installing changes to a web, app, or database server by swapping alternating production and staging servers * Continuous deployment, a software ...

separate networks. Here the advantage is saving in hardware cost. * While logically separating multi-purpose sensor networks :*E.g., smart neighborhood systems with multifunctional sensor nodes. Instead of traditional WSNs that runs one single applications, VSN enabled nodes run multiple applications * In certain dedicated but dynamic applications :* E.g., To enhance efficiency of a system that track dynamic

phenomena A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried ...

such as subsurface

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

plumes that migrate, split, or merge. Such networks may involve dynamically varying subsets of sensors. Here the advantage is the ability to connect right set of nodes at the right time.

* Khan, I.; Belqasmi, F.; Glitho, R.; Crespi, N.; Morrow, M.; Polakos, P.,
Wireless Sensor Network Virtualization: A Survey
" in IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, vol.18, no.1, pp. 553–576, Firstquarter 2016 doi: 10.1109/COMST.2015.2412971 * Khan, I.; Belqasmi, F.; Glitho, R.; Crespi, N.; Morrow, M.; Polakos, P.,
Wireless sensor network virtualization: early architecture and research perspectives
" in IEEE Network, vol.29, no.3, pp. 104–112, May–June 2015 doi: 10.1109/MNET.2015.7113233 * Khan, I.; Errounda, F.Z.; Yangui, S.; Glitho, R.; Crespi, N.,
Getting Virtualized Wireless Sensor Networks' IaaS Ready for PaaS
" in Distributed Computing in Sensor Systems (DCOSS), 2015 International Conference on, vol., no., pp. 224–229, 10–12 June 2015 doi: 10.1109/DCOSS.2015.39 * Khan, I.; Jafrin, R.; Errounda, F.Z.; Glitho, R.; Crespi, N.; Morrow, M.; Polakos, P.,
A data annotation architecture for semantic applications in virtualized wireless sensor networks
" in Integrated Network Management (IM), 2015 IFIP/IEEE International Symposium on, vol., no., pp. 27–35, 11–15 May 2015 doi: 10.1109/INM.2015.7140273 * N. M. Mosharaf Kabir Chowdhurya and Raouf Boutaba,
A survey of network virtualization
" Computer Networks, vol. 54, no 5, Apr. 2010, pp 862–876. * H. M. N. D. Bandara, A. P. Jayasumana, and T. H. Illangasekare, �
Cluster tree based self organization of virtual sensor networks
” In Proc. Wireless Mesh and Sensor Networks: Paving the Way to the Future or yet Another...?, New Orleans, Nov. 2008.

References

{{Reflist Wireless sensor network

Applications

See also

References