SUIT: A Cross Layer Image Transport Protocol with Fuzzy Logic Based Congestion Control for Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

Congestion is a challenging problem for sensor networks because it causes the waste of communication and reduces energy efficiency. In this article, problems for multimedia transmission over wireless multimedia sensor networks are examined and Sensor fUzzy-based Image Transmission (SUIT); a new cross-layer progressive image transport protocol is proposed as a solution. SUIT provides a fuzzy logic based congestion estimation and a novel congestion mitigation technique which decreases image quality on-the-fly at an acceptable level. In case of congestion, SUIT drops some packets of the frames in a smart way and thus transmits frames to the sink with lower, but acceptable quality. In this way, SUIT improves the continuity of the video streaming. We evaluate the performance of SUIT by comparing it with two example transport protocols, namely Event- to-Sink Reliable Transport and Fuzzy Logic Based Congestion Estimation, proposed for wireless sensor networks. According to our simulation results, SUIT provides better energy consumption, frame delivery, frame loss and frame latency performance than its competitors.