Doctorate thesis defense of Dhouha Krichen

Doctorate thesis defense on September 15^th 2017 at 09H00 ,in Amphi, Sup’Com.

Entitled :Embedded and Cooperating Wireless Sensor Networks: Engineering Models and Protection Schemes

Presented by :Dhouha Krichen

Committee

President	Pr. Mohamed Siala		Sup’Com School of Communication Engineering of Tunis
Examiners	Dr. Essaid Sabir		ENSEM, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco
	Dr. Sami Habib		University of Kuwait
Member	Dr. Slim Rekhis		Sup’Com School of Communication Engineering of Tunis
Thesis Director	Pr. Noureddine Boudriga		Sup’Com School of Communication Engineering of Tunis

Abstract

Thanks to the great progress in the field of embedded computer and sensor technology, embedded wireless sensor networks (EWSNs) has emerged as an effective solution for the development of many applications such as border surveillance, structure health monitoring and controlling aeronautical vehicles. However, EWSNs present a set of challenges such as resource allocation, QoS provision and coverage maintenance and enable ubiquitous and broad connectivity. This thesis addresses the development of techniques and architectures to allow reliable medium access control, efficient resource allocation and enhanced coverage in EWSNs. In addition, it introduces the concept of optical embedded wireless networks (OEWSNs) and discusses related networking problems. Consequently, the main contributions of the thesis are fourth-fold.

First, we designed EWSN communication architecture suitable for structural health monitoring of an aircraft intended to detect vibration intensity among all the airplane structures. To enhance the efficiency of the multiple access scheme, we introduced a game based model to allow efficient multiple access.

Second, we investigated the implementation of cognitive radio in EWSN used in aircraft cabin, and we build two approaches that improve the frequency allocation and utilization for the sensor nodes. The first one uses a static algorithm, whereas the second one uses a game-theoretic model which allocates resources to the sensor nodes in a fair and distributed manner.

Third, we proposed a coverage hole detection scheme based on ant colony optimization, where the sensor nodes composing the holes boundaries are detected using neighbourhood and connectivity information. Some techniques are presented to patch holes and therefore to enhance the EWSN coverage quality and communication performance.

Fourth, we proposed an architecture of embedded optical wireless sensor networks (EOWSNs) and we designed a QoS-based optical resource allocation scheme. Furthermore, we investigated the use of OEWSNs to implement safe and smart avionic and rail transportation systems.

Keywords

Embedded Wireless Sensor Networks, Cognitive Radio, Game-theory, Ant Colony Optimization, and Optical Wireless Communication.