A multicast reprogramming protocol for wireless sensor networks based on small world concepts

• The paper issue is the automatic reprogramming in wireless sensor networks.
• The paper proposes a multicast over-the-air programming protocol.
• The paper considers a small world topology.
• The protocol proposed reduces the number of messages transmitted.
• The protocol proposed reduces the time to reconfigure the network.

Automatic reprogramming is an important and challenging issue in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). A usual approach is the over-the-air programming (OAP), which is a fundamental service based on reliable broadcast for efficient code dissemination. However, existing OAP protocols do not enable the reprogramming of a subset of the sensor nodes in a WSN. Hence, in this work we propose a multicast-based over-the-air programming protocol that considers a small world infrastructure (MOAP-SW). The small world model is used to create shortcuts toward the sink in the communication infrastructure of sensor networks. The endpoints of these shortcuts are more powerful nodes, resulting in a heterogeneous wireless sensor network. Simulation results show the feasibility of the protocol regarding the number of messages transmitted, the energy consumption and the time to reconfigure the network.