Energy-efficient human probes for high-resolution sensing in urban environments

Portable sensory devices carried by humans—which are referred to as HumanProbes—facilitate easy-to-use sensing and monitoring of urban areas. However, when each Human Probe individually senses and transmits information, the sensing activity is inefficient in terms of energy consumption. In this paper, we propose Aquiba protocol in which the sensing activities carried out by the Human Probes are adjusted autonomously under different conditions. Aquiba involves cooperative sensing that helps in efficiently maintaining the desired sensing resolution, while minimizing overall energy consumption. To validate Aquiba protocol, we have conducted comprehensive simulations by including small-scale and large-scale scenarios along with applying three movement patterns of human. The simulation results demonstrate that Aquiba protocol is capable of providing high sensing resolution and reducing energy consumption substantially. © 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.