EODS: An Energy-efficient Online Decision Scheme in Delay-sensitive Sensor Networks for Rare-event Detection

In many applications of WSNs, the events occur infrequently but once they occur, the corresponding information needs to be sent to the sink node in a short period of time for the necessary reactions. Detection of rare events in a fast and energy-efficient manner is an important issue in WSNs. In this paper, based on the optimal solution for the Best-choice Problem with Bounded Random Observation Number, we propose an Energy-efficient Online Decision Scheme (EODS) to handle this problem. Combining with the design of nodes´ duty cycle, the EODS avoids the redundant transmissions and achieves the tradeoff between delay and energy efficiency. Simulation results reveal that the EODS achieves a good balance between delay and energy efficiency.