Epidemic-style Monitoring in Large-Scale Sensor Networks

As wireless sensor nodes become more powerful, affordable and compact, the possibility of deploying massive numbers of networked nodes for various purposes becomes more and more attractive. Large-scale networks of wireless sensor nodes constructed “on the fly” could easily monitor environment variables over large geographical areas if a scalable and efficient communication layer were in place. However, the unpredictable nature of ad hoc networks seems to be at odds with the deterministic characteristics of most routing protocols, making them unsuitable for large-scale deployment. In this paper, we explore epidemic techniques for disseminating information in ad hoc environments. By taking a gossip-based approach instead of purposefully routing data to a destination we aim to sidestep the scalability constraints faced by other more sophisticated routing protocols. We present a framework under which three protocols are built. Through various simulations, we explore how the subtle differences between them affect their characteristics for large-scale data dissemination. Formal analysis of our protocols gives insight into the mechanics that make epidemic protocols a reliable and scalable solution for ad hoc networks.

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