A Study of Cooperative Human Probes in Urban Sensing Environments

Niwat THEPVILOJANAPONG  Shin'ichi KONOMI  Yoshito TOBE  

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Communications   Vol.E93-B    No.11    pp.2868-2878
Publication Date: 2010/11/01
Online ISSN: 1745-1345
DOI: 10.1587/transcom.E93.B.2868
Print ISSN: 0916-8516
Type of Manuscript: Special Section PAPER (Special Section on Fundamental Issues on Deployment of Ubiquitous Sensor Networks)
Category: 
Keyword: 
urban sensing,  cooperative sensing,  energy efficiency,  sensing resolution,  performance evaluation,  simulation,  Aquiba,  

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Summary: 
Portable sensory devices such as sensors equipped mobile phones enable convenient sensing and monitoring of urban areas. Such devices, which are always carried by humans, are referred to as Human Probes. Instead of carrying out sensing activities independently, cooperation of Human Probes helps in realizing efficient urban sensing environments. In this paper, we propose an Architecture of Qualitative Urban Information Blending and Acquisition (Aquiba), in which the sensing activities are adjusted autonomously according to cooperation of Human Probes. Aquiba introduces a cooperative sensing approach which aims to maintain desired sensing resolution efficiently while minimizing overall energy consumption. To study the performance of Aquiba, we have conducted comprehensive simulations ranging from small- to large-scale scenarios along with applying three different movement patterns of human. The simulation results demonstrate that Aquiba is capable of providing high sensing resolution and reducing overall energy consumption.