Collaborative Data Transmission in Wireless Sensor Networks

Collaborative beamforming (CBF) is a promising technique aimed at improving energy efficiency of communication in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) which has attracted considerable attention in the research community recently. It is based on a fact that beampattern with stable mainlobe can be formed, if multiple sensors synchronize their oscillators and jointly transmit a common message signal. In this paper, we consider application of CBF with one bit of feedback in different communication scenarios and analyze the impact of constraints imposed by simple sensor node hardware, on the resulting signal strength. First, we present a CBF scheme capable of reducing interference levels in the nearby WSN clusters by employing joint feedback from multiple base stations that surround the WSN of interest. Then, we present a collaborative power allocation and sensor selection algorithm, capable of achieving beamforming gains with transmitters that are not able to adjust their oscillators& x2019; signal phase. The performance of the algorithms is assessed by means of achieved beamforming gain which is given as a function of algorithm iterations. The presented results, which are based on numerical simulations and mathematical analysis, are compared with the ideal case without constraints and with negligible noise at the Base Station (BS).