Improving iMesh based service discovery by agents in multi-hop wireless sensor and actuator networks

In this article, agents are used to improve information mesh (iMesh) based distance sensitive service discovery in multi-hop wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs), thus improving overall energy efficiency and lifetime of the network. The area monitored by sensors is divided into sectors where one static agent, having all information about the actuators in that sector, is located in the center. Event that needs single actuator respond is sensed by one of the sensors in the grid and is reported to the nearest agent. Agents form an information mesh (aiMesh, agent-based iMesh) and the search for the closest actuator to respond is done by means of aiMesh cross lookup. Introducing agents maintains very high efficiency of the starting algorithm and significantly reduces communication overhead (over 100 times), thus saving energy in comparison to basic iMesh algorithm. Performances of both algorithms are shown by simulation results.