Integrating software defined networking approach into wirelessmultimedia sensor networks

This research study addresses some critical issues of wireless sensor networks and comes up with a proposition for tackling these issues by means of a trending notion in networks that is SDN. SDN standardization exertions are in progress through active IEEE standards projects, since SDN has revealed new perspectives in managing existing networks and apply its practicality and interoperability. In this thesis, SDN is presented in a way it would be a highly suitable choice for WSAN type of networks, concentrating on abstracting the network and simplifying management for the sake of less overall energy consumption and application-specific adaptation. The proposed architecture has been modeled and simulated using Riverbed Modeler Software for performance evaluation. Additionally, the simulated architecture was developed for experimental devices implementation. TI network processor of ARM-based CC2538EVM module with an application processor of smartRF06EB board was used in the development. The network processor is used either as a stand-alone only-forwarding node or mounted on the application processor to utilize existing sensor data, buttons and other interfaces in smartRF06EB. In the developed architecture simulation, several demonstrations were carried out using various types of traffic. Furthermore, the model included a centralized topologyaware routing mechanism embedded in SDNC. At the same time, a traditional protocol framework simulation was also conducted for comparison purposes. Results presented a very good enhancement in power consumption aspect of view and slightly better results in terms of delay and throughput. Keywords: WMSN, SDN, SDN Controller, Wireless Sensor Networks, Software- Defined Networking, Embedded Systems.