Wireless visual sensor networks for smart city applications: A relevance-based approach for multiple sinks mobility

Nowadays, the major cities of the world have to solve problems that were unthinkable in past decades. Due to the population growing rate, new issues are still arising, but technology can be used to address such issues and improve life quality in big cities. In that scenario, surveillance is a highly desired service and most governments are already using different types of devices to provide high levels of security. Wireless Visual Sensor Networks (WVSN) can be used to monitor every part of a city without the cost of running cables all over it. However, there must be an efficient way to gather all information collected by the sensors and cameras, with reduced energy consumption and average latency. This work proposes a new algorithm to position multiple mobile sinks in WVSN deployed along roads and streets. A relevance-based approach was designed to position sinks closer to source nodes with higher sensing relevance, since they are expected to transmit more data packets. The proposed algorithm can detect forbidden and disconnected zones, making sure sinks will be positioned in permitted areas, which makes this approach very suitable for realistic smart city applications. A mobile sinks positioning approach for smart cities is proposed.Movement constraints in urban areas are considered for sinks positioning.More relevant nodes in the network are prioritized by the sinks.Energy consumption is reduced compared to static sinks.Packets latency is reduced for more relevant nodes.