A wireless actor and sensor networks QoS-aware routing protocol for the emergency preparedness class of applications

Wireless Actors and Sensor Networks (WASNs) can provide a more accurate real time monitoring tool for the emergency preparedness class of application. Quality of Service can be an important mechanism to guarantee that the strict requirements for that class of application are met. This paper presents QARP, a QoS-aware routing protocol with service differentiation for WASNs. The publish/subscribe paradigm is used to promote the interaction among the sensor nodes, actor nodes and the sink. The QARP provides low latency and reliable delivery in the presence of failures (with fast subscription of new interests and uniform energy consumption). It uses the less expensive energy path for low priority packets that do not require low latency. A queuing model is used that supports lower transfer rate for lower priority packet delivery in jam conditions. Simulation results show that the protocol is efficient regarding QoS metrics. QARP can be a potential solution for the monitoring of context aware physical environments subject to emergency situations.