Online heuristics for monetary-based courier relaying in RFID-Sensor Networks

In integrated RFID and Wireless Sensor Networks (RSNs), the abundance of wirelessly enabled mobile devices facilitates forwarding data packets. This presents a beneficial alternative to offload transmission from relay nodes to access points. However, there is no incentive for such mobile devices to carry the relaying task. Hence, we introduce heuristics for Monetary-based Courier Relaying (MCR) that incorporates price negotiation for relaying from source nodes to access points via mobile couriers in RSN architectures. Our heuristics employ a threshold price for each packet prior to transmission. Whether to forward the packet to a courier or to directly transmit it to access points depends on a criticalness function, in addition to the courier´s charge with respect to the packet´s threshold price. We compare our MCR model with other dominant mobile Ad hoc delivery schemes; eliciting its efficiency in terms of energy, cost and delivery rate.