Knowledge Theoretic Design for Data Transmission Protocols of Wireless Sensor Networks

In this report, the use of knowledge-theoretic principles to analyse Wireless Sensor Networks and design protocols is examined. Nodes in the network are viewed as knowledge-agents which are able to evaluate formulas using a knowledge-model of the network, and make informed decisions during the run time of a knowledge based data transmission protocol. Such a protocol compares with standard data transmission protocols in terms of resource consumption, protocol overhead, and whether or not the protocol can be verified. Such knowledge-theoretic protocols seem to improve some aspects of network performance, but they have a potential drawback of a large protocol overhead of the data structures needed for manipulating knowledge. It is thus interesting to further investigate appropriate knowledge models and design methodologies for Wireless Sensor Network protocols that will provide a tradeoff between systematic protocol design, performance, resource consumption, and protocol overhead.