Wireless sensors and their applications have become increasingly attractive for industry, building automation and energy control, paving the way for new applications of sensor networks which go well beyond traditional sensor applications. In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in the number of wireless devices operating in close proximity to the human body. Wearable sensor nodes are growing popular not only in our normal living lifestyle, but also within healthcare and military applications, where different radio units operating in/on/off body communicate pervasively. Expectations go beyond the research visions, towards deployment in real-world applications that would empower business processes and future business cases. Although theoretical and simulation models give initial results of the antenna behaviour and the radio channel performance of wireless body area network (WBAN) devices, empirical data from different set of measurements still form an essential part of the radio propagation models. Usually, measurements are performed in laboratory facilities which are equipped with bulky and expensive RF instrumentation within calibrated and controllable environments; thus, the acquired data has the highest possible reliability. However, there are still measurement uncertainties due to cables and connections and significant variations when designs are deployed and measured in real scenarios, such as hospitals wards, commercial buildings or even the battle field. Consequently, more flexible and less expensive measurement tools are required. In this sense, wireless sensor nodes offer not only easiness to deploy or flexibility, but also adaptability to different environments. In this thesis, custom-built wireless sensor nodes are used to characterise different on-body radio channels operating in the IEEE 802.15.4 communication standard at the 2.45 GHz ISM band. Measurement results are also compared with those from the conventional technique using a Vector Network Analyser. The wireless sensor nodes not only diminished the effect of semi-rigid or flexible coaxial cables (scattering or radiation) used with the Vector Network Analyser (VNA), but also provided a more realistic response of the radio link channel. The performance of the wireless sensors is presented over each of the 16 different channels present at the 2.45 GHz band. Additionally, custom-built wireless sensors are used to characterise and model the performance of different on-body radio links in dynamic environments, such as jogging, rowing, and cycling. The use of wireless sensors proves to be less obstructive and more flexible than traditional measurements using coaxial cables, VNA or signal generators. The statistical analysis of different WBAN channels highlighted important radio propagation features which can be used as sport classifiers models and motion detection. Moreover, specific on-body radio propagation channels are further explored, with the aim to recognize physiological features such as motion pattern, breathing activity and heartbeat. The time domain sample data is transformed to the frequency domain using a non-parametric FFT defined by the Welch’s periodogram. The Appendix-Section D explores other digital signal processing techniques which include spectrograms (STFT) and wavelet transforms (WT). Although a simple analysis is presented, strong DSP techniques proved to be good for signal de-noising and multi-resolution analysis. Finally, preliminary results are presented for indoor tracking using the RSS recorded by multiple wireless sensor nodes deployed in an indoor scenario. In contrast to outdoor environments, indoor scenarios are subject to a high level of multipath signals which are dependent on the indoor clutter. The presented algorithm is based on path loss analysis combined with spatial knowledge of each wireless sensor.

In this thesis, we study the energy efficient coverage and connectivity problem in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). We try to locate heterogeneous sensors and route data generated to a base station under two conflicting objectives: minimization of network cost and maximization of network lifetime. We aim at satisfying connectivity and coverage requirements as well as sensor node and link capacity constraints. We propose mathematical formulations and use an exact solution approach to find Pareto optimal solutions for the problem. We also develop a multiobjective genetic algorithm to approximate the efficient frontier, as the exact solution approach requires long computation times. We experiment with our genetic algorithm on randomly generated problems to test how well the heuristic procedure approximates the efficient frontier. Our results show that our genetic algorithm approximates the efficient frontier well in reasonable computation times.

De nos jours, une forte croissance des objets connectés est constatée, dépassant même la population mondiale. Devant l'ampleur de ce phénoméne, l'efficacité énergétique des objets communicants est une sérieuse problématique. La maximisation de leur durée de vie est requise pour assurer une qualité de service. Dans cette optique, les travaux de cette thèse visent à optimiser la consommation énergétique des communications sans fil dans un réseau de capteurs. Le télé-réveil, un concept imaginé depuis une dizaine d'années, consiste au déclenchement du réveil du noeud communicant par un signal radio à distance. Par défaut, le noeud reste en mode veille de façon permanente à très basse consommation. Au besoin, il peut être réveillé à la demande par un signal radio spécifique. Ainsi, la consommation énergétique du module radio est grandement réduite par l'écoute passive du canal en mode veille. Ce principe de télé-réveil nécessite toutefois le développement de nouvelles architectures matérielles associées à des protocoles de communication adaptés et innovants. Malgré les propositions récentes, le niveau de maturité technologique n'a pas encore été atteint sur ce sujet. Par conséquent, un système de télé-réveil est proposé dans cette thèse, en incluant une caractérisation théorique de ses performances. Le récepteur de télé-réveil consomme 363 nW en mode veille contre 49,8 µW en mode de réception. De plus, deux nouveaux protocoles de télé-réveil DoRa et DC-DoRa sont proposés avec une évaluation de leurs performances par simulation. Les résultats obtenus montrent que ces protocoles de télé-réveil diminuent fortement l'énergie consommée par le module radio, en comparaison des protocoles MAC actuellement utilisés dans les réseaux de capteur. Enfin, la mise en œuvre expérimentale du système et des protocoles de télé-réveil a permis de mesurer les performances réelles de notre approche dans un environnement de surécoute et d'interférence. / Nowadays, a significant growth of connected things is observed, exceeding even the worldpopulation. Given the magnitude of this phenomenon, the energy efficiency of communicatingobjects is a crucial issue. Maximizing their lifetime is necessary to ensure a qualityof service. In this regard, the aim of this thesis is to optimize the energy consumption ofwireless communications in a wireless sensor network.The concept of wake-up radio was created a decade ago, which consists of waking up thecommunicating node by a remote radio signal. By default, the node remains in sleepingmode at a very low power consumption. If needed, the node can be woken up on demandthrough a specific radio signal. Thus, the energy consumption of the radio module is greatlyreduced by idle listening to the channel in sleeping mode. However, this wake-up radioprinciple requires the development of new hardware architectures associated with adaptedand innovative communication protocols. Despite recent proposals, the level of technologymaturity has not yet been reached on this subject.Therefore, a wake-up radio system is proposed in this thesis, including a theoreticalcharacterization of its performances. The wake-up receiver consumes 363 nW in sleepingmode and 49.8 µW in receiving mode. Moreover, two new protocols called DoRa and DC-DoRaare proposed with an evaluation of their performances by simulation. The resultsshow that these wake-up radio protocols greatly reduce the energy consumed by the radiomodule, compared to the MAC protocols currently used in wireless sensor networks. Finally,the experimental implementation of the wake-up radio system and protocols enabled thereal performance measurement of our approach in an environment with overhearing andinterference.