Self-Organization in Sensor and Actor Networks (Wiley Series in Communications Networking & Distributed Systems (Hardcover))

Self-Organization in Sensor and Actor Networks explores self-organization mechanisms and methodologies concerning the efficient coordination between intercommunicating autonomous systems.Self-organization is often referred to as the multitude of algorithms and methods that organise the global behaviour of a system based on inter-system communication. Studies of self-organization in natural systems first took off in the 1960s. In technology, such approaches have become a hot research topic over the last 4-5 years with emphasis upon management and control in communication networks, and especially in resource-constrained sensor and actor networks. In the area of ad hoc networks new solutions have been discovered that imitate the properties of self-organization. Some algorithms for on-demand communication and coordination, including data-centric networking, are well-known examples.

Key features include:

• Detailed treatment of self-organization, mobile sensor and actor networks, coordination between autonomous systems, and bio-inspired networking.

• Overview of the basic methodologies for self-organization, a comparison to central and hierarchical control, and classification of algorithms and techniques in sensor and actor networks.

• Explanation of medium access control, ad hoc routing, data-centric networking, synchronization, and task allocation issues.

• Introduction to swarm intelligence, artificial immune system, molecular information exchange.

• Numerous examples and application scenarios to illustrate the theory.

Self-Organization in Sensor and Actor Networks will prove essential reading for students of computer science and related fields; researchers working in the area of massively distributed systems, sensor networks, self-organization, and bio-inspired networking will also find this reference useful.

Dr. Falko Dressler is Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Sciences, University of Erlangen, Germany and, since 2004, Head of the Autonomic Networking Group.  He has made many contributions in the area of quality of service in communication networks (IP, multicast, sensor networks), network security (intrusion detection, high-speed monitoring, IP traceback), ad hoc wireless sensor networks (communication paradigms, congestion control), and bio-inspired networking (lessons learnt from molecular biology to be adapted to communication networks).  His areas of expertise include distributed systems and communication networks, self-organizing autonomous sensor/actuator networks and bio-inspired networking.