Mobility in WSNs for Critical Applications

Abstract

Recent critical application sectors of sensor networks like military, health care, and industry require the use of mobile sensor nodes, something that poses unique challenges in aspects like handoff delay, packet loss, and reliability. In this paper we propose a novel mobility model that handles those challenges effectively by providing on-time mobility detection and handoff triggering. In that way soft handoffs and controlled disconnections are assured. The proposed solution uses cross-layer information from the MAC and Network layers. Our solution was implemented and evaluated in an experimental testbed, in the context of the European FP7 GINSENG project.