Putting the lab on the map: A wireless sensor network system for border security and surveillance

Traditionally, countries viewed international border control as mostly immigration- and customs-based challenge. However, with the increased risks of terrorism, illegal movement of drugs, weapons, contraband and people, these countries face unprecedented challenges in securing borders effectively. Securing international borders is a complex task that involves international collaboration, deployment of advanced technological solutions and professional skill-sets. In the current financial climate, governments strive to secure their borders, but also ensure that costs are kept low.

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is a low cost technology that can provide an effective solution to the range of problems faced in securing borders effectively. The ability of a WSN to operate without human involvement and in situations where other surveillance technologies are impractical has made it favourite for deployment in hostile hazardous environments. This technology offers intelligence-led approach to strengthen vulnerable points on the international borders. This class of WSN applications imposes a linear network topology, which has nodes daisy chained using radio communication. Linear WSN topologies are characterised by sparse node deployment, long data transmission distances and alignment of nodes along a virtual line. This talk presents solutions to address the new challenges introduced by Linear WSNs, including: What is the minimum network density to achieve k-barrier coverage in a given belt region? Given an appropriate network density, how to determine if a region is indeed k-barrier covered? How to find a path connecting the two ends of the border such that every point on the path is covered by a sensor node? How to balance workload across sensor nodes? How to elongate network life time and meet quality of service requirements?