WSN Architectures for Intelligent Transportation Systems

The emergence of, and advancement in, integrated digital circuitry technology along with the development of efficient software algorithms made it possible to build small, lightweight wireless nodes equipped with embedded processors, sensors and radio transceivers. By densely deploying these nodes, in a highly distributed manner, we can build a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). In this network, sensors collaborate in monitoring physical parameters or environmental conditions, such as temperature, sound, vibration, etc. Sensor nodes frequently report the data they capture to a central collection unit that analyses the data and takes appropriate actions if needed. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs) emerged as a potential candidate for benefiting from the unique features and capabilities of WSNs. In ITSs, transportation infrastructure is supported with the ingenious achievements of computer and information technology to resolve severe situations like traffic congestion and cope with emergency conditions like major accidents. In this paper, we study the requirements for an efficient WSN architecture for ITSs, survey the WSN architectures proposed for this type of applications highlighting their strengths and weaknesses, and shed light on future directions in this field of research.