Energy consumption analysis of a simple image transmission protocol in wireless sensor networks

Abstract

This paper proposes and evaluates a simple energyaware image transmission protocol suitable for wireless sensor networks. Energy saving is achieved through the use of a wavelet image transform and a semi-reliable transmission. On the one hand, wavelet image transform provides data decomposition in multiple levels of resolution, so the image can be divided into packets with different priorities. On the other hand, semi-reliable transmission enables priority-based packet discarding by intermediate nodes according to their battery’s state-of-charge. Such approach provides a graceful trade-off between the image quality played out and the sensor nodes lifetime. An analytical performance evaluation in terms of mean dissipated energy is performed. Results show up to 90% reduction in the energy consumption achieved by our proposal compared to a non energy-aware transmission.