An Overview of Hierarchical Schemes for Fault Management in Wireless Sensor Networks

• Published in: Journal of Computer Science and Control Systems Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 43
• Main Authors: Khan, Muhammad Zahid, Asim, Muhammad, Khan, Ijaz Muhammad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oradea University of Oradea 01.05.2012
• Subjects: Architecture; Computer architecture; Failure; Fault tolerance; Faults; Management; Mathematical models; Networks; Remote computing; Sensors; Wireless networks
• ISSN: 1844-6043; 2067-2101

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are typically resource-constrained and battery driven. They are usually deployed in hostile and inaccessible environments to perform monitoring and tracking. Therefore, due to their physical deployment location sensor nodes are very prone to faults and failures. In recent years, much work has been done on the various aspects of the WSNs, especially fault management. Fault management is concerned with detecting, diagnosing, isolating and resolving faults and failures. Thereby, a network's management system with an efficient fault management platform makes the network fault tolerant in the events of faults and failures. In this context, many solutions have been proposed for fault management in WSNs. However, hierarchical architecture based schemes have proven to be more efficient as compare to centralized and distributed schemes. This paper aims to overview hierarchical architecture based schemes for fault management in WSNs. We critically analyze their effectiveness and short comings for large-scale WSNs. We believe through such an exercise provides a great background to establish new and effective fault management solutions for WSNs. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]