Can edge sensor data reliably route through unreliable networks using a unique decentralized routing framework? New research describes how using a framework of peer-to-peer (P2P) wireless sensor networks (WSNs). WSNs are characterized as small, low power, low data rate wireless devices, forming the edge sensors in a network. Disseminating that information through a decentralized framework starts by using ubiquitous mobile gradient (UMG) routing. This forms the foundation of the authors’ TinyTorrents (TT) overlay approach.

The authors take the reader from a centralized implementation of their TT framework to an even more challenging decentralized solution. They explain how they can scale and reliably distribute sensor data. In particular, they use P2P approaches, which self-organize and communicate node-to-node through a range of protocols. Their own TT protocol sits on top of the gradient-based reactive routing protocol, UMG. With these, an overlay is created for reliable and efficient multi-hop routing for sensor data dissemination.

As the authors state, instead of reliably sending data through preestablished routes, they provide selective data dissemination to a sub(set) of consumers though a traffic load balancing collaborative manner. They use P2P for a set of self-organizing communicating devices. Through structured P2P with virtual overlays, they can use distributed hash table (DHT) schemes.

Through TT and P2P content distribution such as BitTorrent, the paper then goes into great detail on their UMG routing mechanism. UMG is address centric to represent the nodes. This also supports data-centric routing using Bloom filters. Essentially, UMG acts as a service advertisement protocol that is shared across the continually changing network.

The paper addresses scalability and performance through simulations and extensive execution across various 64-node topology layouts. The results are nicely described and also compared to other WSN dissemination protocols. The research results from this paper are a valuable contribution to mobile networking challenges.