Este trabalho analisa as possibilidades de aplicação de redes de sensores sem-fio na agricultura, dentro do contexto da agricultura de precisão. É feita uma revisão bibliográfica genérica sobre redes de sensores sem-fio e específica sobre aplicação em agricultura. Oportunidades para aplicação real de redes de sensores neste ambiente são identificadas e caracterizadas. Uma investigação aprofundada do espaço de projeto de redes de sensores é apresentada. Com base em trabalhos publicados, é feita uma proposta de dimensões de espaço de projeto, como forma de caracterizar diferentes redes. Diversos trabalhos publicados são analisados através das dimensões propostas. Os requisitos para redes para uso agrícola são delineados e caracterizados nas dimensões de projeto. Em um segundo momento, a partir das dimensões propostas, é elaborado um modelo matemático para o funcionamento de redes de sensores. Este modelo permite explorar de forma rápida todas dimensões do espaço de projeto, verificando o impacto global na rede de decisões locais na implementação dos nós. Uma rede experimental foi implementada, sendo caracterizada segundo o modelo e posteriormente testada em condições próximas às reais de uso. Esta rede permitiu a obtenção de dados reais, auxiliou na identificação de oportunidade para uso em agricultura e contribuiu na analise de desempenho do modelo proposto. / This paper analyzes wireless sensor networks application possibilities in precision agriculture. A generic bibliographic review in the domain is done as well as a specific review about applications in agriculture. Real application opportunities in this domain were identified and characterized A deep investigation on wireless sensor networks design space is presented. A proposition of design space dimensions to characterize different networks is made based on published papers. Some previous works are analyzed using the proposed design dimensions. Requirements to the networks targeting agricultural use are delimited and characterized in these design dimensions. In a second moment a mathematical model to wireless sensor networks is proposed based on the design space dimensions. This model allows rapid design space exploration and also the verification of network impact of local node implementation decisions. A WSN was implemented and submitted to application tests. It was characterized according to the proposed model and also tested in conditions similar to the real ones. The experimental WSN allowed real data collection, helped to identified application opportunities in agriculture and contributed to analyze the behavior of the proposed model.

As redes de sensores sem fio (wsns) têm ganhado cada vez mais espaço no monitoramento e controle de processos na indústria. Dentro destas redes, os dispositivos são alimentados por baterias, e a comunicação é feita por radiofrequência. Por conta disto, os rádios dos dispositivos são responsáveis por consumir boa parte da energia armazenada nas suas baterias, e a comunicação dos dispositivos está sujeita à interferência provinda de outras redes e do maquinário industrial. Para sanar estes problemas podem ser empregadas técnicas de controle de potência de transmissão (cpt). Existem diversas técnicas de cpt na literatura, visando os mais diversos objetivos, desde economia de energia e redução de interferência, até controle da topologia da rede. Este trabalho apresenta uma proposta de emprego de (cpt) em uma rede de sensores sem fio através da utilização de controladores proporcionais-integrais (pi). Juntamente com a técnica proposta, são apresentados um procedimento para projeto dos controladores e alguns algoritmos desenvolvidos para o caso ideal e para os casos com saturação dos níveis de potência disponíveis. Este trabalho se diferencia dos trabalhos encontrados na literatura por apresentar uma técnica de controle linear e que depende apenas de informações já disponíveis em cada dispositivo cuja potência será ajustada. Deste modo, esta técnica pode ser empregada em conjunto com protocolos industriais mais restritivos quanto às informações que podem ser trocadas nas mensagens. Além disso, esta técnica reduz ainda mais o consumo e a interferência por evitar transmissões desnecessárias. A proposta apresentada foi validada através de simulações e de um experimento com dispositivos WirelessHART reais, apresentando bons resultados e provando que é possível controlar a potência sem a necessidade das informações extras. / Wireless sensor networks (wsns) are being increasingly adopted in monitor and control tasks in the industry. The devices within these networks are battery-powered, and they communicate through radio frequency. Therefore the radios of the devices account for the most of the consumption of the energy stored in the batteries, and the devices’ communication is subject to interference from other networks and industrial machinery. Transmission power control (tpc) techniques can be employed to cope with these problems. There are several tpc techniques in the literature, aiming at a wide range of objectives, from energy saving and interference reduction, to network topology control. This work presents the proposal of a (tpc) technique in a wireless sensor network that works by employing proportional-integral (pi) controllers. Besides the technique itself, a procedure is presented to design the controllers along some algorithms developed to the ideal case, and the case when there is saturation in the available power levels. This work, unlike the other works found in the literature, presents a linear technique that depends only on information that is already available in each device whose power needs to be adjusted. Therefore, the proposed technique can be employed together with more restrictive industrial protocols that limit the information that can be exchanged in the messages. Besides, it further reduces the power consumption and the interference by avoiding unnecessary transmissions. The proposal was validated through simulations and an experiment using real WirelessHART devices, presenting good results and proving that it is possible to adjust the transmission power without necessarily using the extra information.

Redes de sensores sem fio tem ganhado grande destaque em diferentes aplicações, tais como, domésticas, comercial e industrial, trazendo mais flexibilidade e mais conveniência em nossas vidas. Entretanto, seu desempenho é influenciado por diversos fatores como, por exemplo, características do ambiente de propagação das ondas de rádio e outras tecnologias de comunicação sem fio que podem coexistir em uma mesma área de cobertura. Os recursos utilizados nas comunicações sem fio são limitados e muitas vezes não exclusivos possibilitando interferências provenientes de diferentes tipos de fontes. O presente trabalho busca soluções para o uso mais eficiente dos recursos da rede de comunicação sem fio, são investigados e propostos métodos adaptativos para uma rede sem fio industrial, o protocolo WirelessHART, utilizando mecanismos dinâmicos de sensoriamento de espectro e seleção de canal entre os dispositivos da rede. É apresentado uma arquitetura de gerenciamento do espectro em conformidade com o protocolo, baseado em sensoriamento do espectro distribuído e no monitoramento do desempenho das comunicações. A arquitetura utilizada permite a classificação de um conjunto de canais específicos entre os pares de dispositivos durante a operação da rede de comunicação. O trabalho demonstra o desempenho dos mecanismos desenvolvidos para a detecção de interferências com redes do tipo IEEE 802.11. / Wireless sensor networks have been expanding rapidly in many applications for different areas such as residential, office and industrial. Wireless connections bring many advantages as installation feasibility, scalability, mobility and reduce infrastructure costs. However, wireless network performance is affected by many factors as, for example, environment characteristics and other wireless communication technologies at the same coverage area. The wireless communication resources are limited and many times shared, allowing interferences from different kind of electromagnetic sources. This work presents a solution for an efficient use of the wireless communication network resources, investigate and propose adaptive methods for an industrial wireless network, the WirelessHART protocol, using dynamic mechanisms of spectrum sensing and channel selection between the devices. A protocol spectrum management architecture based on distributed sensing and monitoring of communications performance is presented, in compliance with WirelessHART protocol, allowing the classification of a set of specific channels between peer devices during the communication network’s operation. Also, it is presented the channel selection performance for IEEE 802.11 interference.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-10T14:24:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-08-19. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-12-10T14:30:30Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000854167.pdf: 3511383 bytes, checksum: eedaff6a28052bba3f62a4adef1b1c03 (MD5) / O monitoramento de integridade estrutural tem atraído o interesse de muitos pesquisadores ao longo das últimas décadas. Com os recentes avanços na tecnologia de comunicação sem fio, as redes sem fio podem, potencialmente, oferecer uma alternativa de baixo custo para seus homólogos tradicionais baseados em cabo. Neste trabalho apresenta-se o desenvolvimento e implementação de um novo sistema de monitoramento de integridade estrutural sem fio baseado em um promissor e simples método para detectar dano em estruturas usando o princípio da impedância eletromecânica. O sistema proposto consiste de uma rede de sensores sem fio, escalável e de baixa potência; composta por nós sensores inteligentes, um nó de enlace e um centro de monitoramento remoto. O nó de enlace é usado como coordenador de uma rede ZigBee composta por múltiplos nós sensores inteligentes; e como um gateway para integrar a rede ZigBee com o centro de monitoramento remoto via uma rede GSM/GPRS e/ou um servidor HTTP. O nó sensor inteligente, baseado em microcontrolador, é um núcleo portátil, autônomo, realiza automaticamente a compensação das medições com variações da temperatura ambiente, pode controlar vários sensores e opera em modo local ou remoto. A identificação de dano é realizada mediante simples análise nas variações da tensão eficaz do sinal de resposta de transdutores piezelétricos, tais como cerâmicas de titanato zirconato de chumbo (PZT) colados à estrutura, obtidos no domínio do tempo para diferentes frequências do sinal de excitação, sendo que não é necessário calcular a impedância eletromecânica. A compensação dos efeitos da temperatura é realizada utilizando os coeficientes de correlação para calcular o valor efetivo do deslocamento de frequência a partir das assinaturas coletadas. Experimentos foram realizados com sucesso em uma estrutura de alumínio, variando a temperatura na faixa de 0oC-60oC; os resultados... / Structural health monitoring have attracted much research interest over the last few decades. With recent advances in wireless communication technology, wireless networks can potentially offer a low-cost alternative to traditional cable-based sensing systems. This work presents the design and implementation of a novel wireless structural health monitoring system based on a promising and simple method to detect damage in structures using the electromechanical impedance principle. The proposed system is a wireless low-power scalable sensor network composed of smart sensor nodes, a link node and a remote monitoring center (host node and server). The link node is used as the coordinator of a ZigBee network of multiple smart sensor nodes; and as a gateway to integrate ZigBee network with the remote monitoring center via a GSM/GPRS network and/or an HTTP server. The smart sensor node, based on microcontroller, is a portable core, standalone, which automatically compensates measurements with environment temperature variation, may control various sensors and operates in either local or remote mode. The identification of damage is performed by simply analyzing the variations of root mean square voltage of the response signals from piezoelectric transducers, such as PZT (Lead Zirconate Titanate) patches bonded to the structure, obtained for different frequencies of excitation signals in time domain, and it is not necessary to compute the electromechanical impedance. The temperature compensation is performed using the correlation coefficients to compute the effective frequency displacement value from the data signatures. Experiments were successfully performed on an aluminum structure and temperature varying from 0oC to 60oC; the results indicate that the proposed smart sensor node, which can be monitored from anywhere in the world and is able to detect damage in the initial stage, even in the presence of ...

The real time monitoring of environment context aware activities, based on distributed detection, is becoming a standard in public safety and service delivery in a wide range of domains (child and elderly care and supervision, logistics, circulation, and other). The safety of people, goods and premises depends on the prompt immediate reaction to potential hazards identified in real time, at an early stage to engage appropriate control actions. Effective emergency response can be supported only by available and acquired expertise or elaborate collaborative knowledge in the domain of distributed detection that include indoor sensing, tracking and localizing. This research proposes a hybrid conceptual multi-agent framework for the acquisition of collaborative knowledge in dynamic complex context aware environments for distributed detection. This framework has been applied for the design and development of a hybrid intelligent multi-agent decision system (HIDSS) that supports a decentralized active sensing, tracking and localizing strategy, and the deployment and configuration of smart detection devices associated to active sensor nodes wirelessly connected in a network topology to configure, deploy and control ad hoc wireless sensor networks (WSNs). This system, which is based on the interactive use of data, models and knowledge base, has been implemented to support fire detection and control access fusion functions aimed at elaborating: An integrated data model, grouping the building information data and WSN-RFID database, composed of the network configuration and captured data, A virtual layout configuration of the controlled premises, based on using a building information model, A knowledge-based support for the design of generic detection devices, A multi-criteria decision making model for generic detection devices distribution, ad hoc WSNs configuration, clustering and deployment, and Predictive data models for evacuation planning, and fire and evacuation simulation. An evaluation of the system prototype has been carried out to enrich information and knowledge fusion requirements and show the scope of the concepts used in data and process modelling. It has shown the practicability of hybrid solutions grouping generic homogeneous smart detection devices enhanced by heterogeneous support devices in their deployment, forming ad hoc networks that integrate WSNs and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The novelty in this work is the web-based support system architecture proposed in this framework that is based on the use of intelligent agent modelling and multi-agent systems, and the decoupling of the processes supporting the multi-sensor data fusion from those supporting different context applications. Although this decoupling is essential to appropriately distribute the different fusion functions, the integration of several dimensions of policy settings for the modelling of knowledge processes, and intelligent and pro-active decision making activities, requires the organisation of interactive fusion functions deployed upstream to a safety and emergency response.

Com o crescimento e o desenvolvimento de aplicações para Redes de Sensores sem Fio (RSSF), os nós-sensores passaram a realizar o tratamento de eventos mais complexos, exigindo um maior desempenho de processamento e flexibilidade do hardware. Estas novas características visam atender os requisitos de diversas aplicações, assim como, apresentarem plataformas customizáveis que possuem somente os recursos necessários para atender estes requisitos. As RSSF, muitas vezes, necessitam de uma arquitetura flexível e que estejam aptas a adaptar-se a alterações de projeto ou do próprio ambiente em que se encontram inserido. A utilização de arquiteturas reconfiguráveis é uma solução que introduz esta flexibilidade e uma grande capacidade de processamento ao nó-sensor. Comparando com as arquiteturas ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), as arquiteturas reconfiguráveis apresentam um custo reduzido no desenvolvimento de aplicações, visto que a plataforma não fica fixa a somente uma aplicação. A reconfigurabilidade permite um ganho no custo e tempo de projeto, além de possibilitar o desenvolvimento de plataformas genéricas para atender um número maior de aplicações. A proposta destas plataformas é, não apenas oferecer uma plataforma eficiente e flexível, mas também potencializar a aplicação em sistemas mais complexos que necessitem de uma maior capacidade de processamento. Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um nó-sensor reconfigurável e customizável para RSSF denominado FemtoNode. O FemtoNode possui em sua plataforma reconfigurável um processador especificado a partir de uma linguagem orientada a objetos Java e um módulo de comunicação sem fio para suportar comunicação entre os nós da rede. A arquitetura proposta foi validada com o estudo de caso de uma rede de sensores heterogênea composta por nós-sensores com plataformas distintas, sendo a análise realizada na presente dissertação. / With the growth and the development of new applications for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), sensors nodes are able to handle more complex events that require higher processing performance and hardware flexibility. These new features are intended to meet the requirements of various applications, as well to provide customized platforms that have only the resources needed to meet these requirements. WSNs often need a flexible architecture able to adapt to design and environment changes. The use of reconfigurable architectures is an alternative to bring more flexibility and more processing capability for the sensor-node. Compared with ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) architectures, which have a high cost in production setup, reconfigurable architectures enable a reduction in these costs because its architecture is not fixed to a single application. Reconfigurability allows a gain in the project costs and time development, and it enables the development of generic platforms to deal with a greater number of applications. Therefore, the proposal target architecture that aims to provide a flexible and efficient platform that require greater processing capacity which support the development of applications. In this work a reconfigurable and customizable sensor-node called FemtoNode is proposed. The FemtoNode has a reconfigurable platform and a wireless module to support applications for WSNs, using an object-oriented language Java as specification language of its architecture. The proposed concepts were validated with a case study of an heterogeneous wireless sensor composed of sensors nodes with different platforms, whose results are described in this work.

Este trabalho analisa as possibilidades de aplicação de redes de sensores sem-fio na agricultura, dentro do contexto da agricultura de precisão. É feita uma revisão bibliográfica genérica sobre redes de sensores sem-fio e específica sobre aplicação em agricultura. Oportunidades para aplicação real de redes de sensores neste ambiente são identificadas e caracterizadas. Uma investigação aprofundada do espaço de projeto de redes de sensores é apresentada. Com base em trabalhos publicados, é feita uma proposta de dimensões de espaço de projeto, como forma de caracterizar diferentes redes. Diversos trabalhos publicados são analisados através das dimensões propostas. Os requisitos para redes para uso agrícola são delineados e caracterizados nas dimensões de projeto. Em um segundo momento, a partir das dimensões propostas, é elaborado um modelo matemático para o funcionamento de redes de sensores. Este modelo permite explorar de forma rápida todas dimensões do espaço de projeto, verificando o impacto global na rede de decisões locais na implementação dos nós. Uma rede experimental foi implementada, sendo caracterizada segundo o modelo e posteriormente testada em condições próximas às reais de uso. Esta rede permitiu a obtenção de dados reais, auxiliou na identificação de oportunidade para uso em agricultura e contribuiu na analise de desempenho do modelo proposto. / This paper analyzes wireless sensor networks application possibilities in precision agriculture. A generic bibliographic review in the domain is done as well as a specific review about applications in agriculture. Real application opportunities in this domain were identified and characterized A deep investigation on wireless sensor networks design space is presented. A proposition of design space dimensions to characterize different networks is made based on published papers. Some previous works are analyzed using the proposed design dimensions. Requirements to the networks targeting agricultural use are delimited and characterized in these design dimensions. In a second moment a mathematical model to wireless sensor networks is proposed based on the design space dimensions. This model allows rapid design space exploration and also the verification of network impact of local node implementation decisions. A WSN was implemented and submitted to application tests. It was characterized according to the proposed model and also tested in conditions similar to the real ones. The experimental WSN allowed real data collection, helped to identified application opportunities in agriculture and contributed to analyze the behavior of the proposed model.

abstract: In many applications, measured sensor data is meaningful only when the location of sensors is accurately known. Therefore, the localization accuracy is crucial. In this dissertation, both location estimation and location detection problems are considered. In location estimation problems, sensor nodes at known locations, called anchors, transmit signals to sensor nodes at unknown locations, called nodes, and use these transmissions to estimate the location of the nodes. Specifically, the location estimation in the presence of fading channels using time of arrival (TOA) measurements with narrowband communication signals is considered. Meanwhile, the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for localization error under different assumptions is derived. Also, maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) under these assumptions are derived. In large WSNs, distributed location estimation algorithms are more efficient than centralized algorithms. A sequential localization scheme, which is one of distributed location estimation algorithms, is considered. Also, different localization methods, such as TOA, received signal strength (RSS), time difference of arrival (TDOA), direction of arrival (DOA), and large aperture array (LAA) are compared under different signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. Simulation results show that DOA is the preferred scheme at the low SNR regime and the LAA localization algorithm provides better performance for network discovery at high SNRs. Meanwhile, the CRLB for the localization error using the TOA method is also derived. A distributed location detection scheme, which allows each anchor to make a decision as to whether a node is active or not is proposed. Once an anchor makes a decision, a bit is transmitted to a fusion center (FC). The fusion center combines all the decisions and uses a design parameter $K$ to make the final decision. Three scenarios are considered in this dissertation. Firstly, location detection at a known location is considered. Secondly, detecting a node in a known region is considered. Thirdly, location detection in the presence of fading is considered. The optimal thresholds are derived and the total probability of false alarm and detection under different scenarios are derived. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2016

abstract: Wireless sensor networks (WSN) and the communication and the security therein have been gaining further prominence in the tech-industry recently, with the emergence of the so called Internet of Things (IoT). The steps from acquiring data and making a reactive decision base on the acquired sensor measurements are complex and requires careful execution of several steps. In many of these steps there are still technological gaps to fill that are due to the fact that several primitives that are desirable in a sensor network environment are bolt on the networks as application layer functionalities, rather than built in them. For several important functionalities that are at the core of IoT architectures we have developed a solution that is analyzed and discussed in the following chapters. The chain of steps from the acquisition of sensor samples until these samples reach a control center or the cloud where the data analytics are performed, starts with the acquisition of the sensor measurements at the correct time and, importantly, synchronously among all sensors deployed. This synchronization has to be network wide, including both the wired core network as well as the wireless edge devices. This thesis studies a decentralized and lightweight solution to synchronize and schedule IoT devices over wireless and wired networks adaptively, with very simple local signaling. Furthermore, measurement results have to be transported and aggregated over the same interface, requiring clever coordination among all nodes, as network resources are shared, keeping scalability and fail-safe operation in mind. Furthermore ensuring the integrity of measurements is a complicated task. On the one hand Cryptography can shield the network from outside attackers and therefore is the first step to take, but due to the volume of sensors must rely on an automated key distribution mechanism. On the other hand cryptography does not protect against exposed keys or inside attackers. One however can exploit statistical properties to detect and identify nodes that send false information and exclude these attacker nodes from the network to avoid data manipulation. Furthermore, if data is supplied by a third party, one can apply automated trust metric for each individual data source to define which data to accept and consider for mentioned statistical tests in the first place. Monitoring the cyber and physical activities of an IoT infrastructure in concert is another topic that is investigated in this thesis. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2017

Ce mémoire de thèse s’intéresse aux réseaux hétérogènes de capteurs sans fil (Wireless Sensor Networks – WSNs) constitués par une multitude de dispositifs de détection qui coexistent malgré leurs caractéristiques différentes. Contrairement aux réseaux homogènes de capteurs, chaque capteur d’un réseau hétérogène est capable de détecter et mesurer différents phénomènes physiques (température, pression, humidité) et générer ainsi un trafic avec des caractéristiques spécifiques, différentes d’un capteur à l’autre.En effet, selon l’application visée, le déploiement initial des nœuds peut être aléatoire, résultant en une répartition non-homogène des nœuds dans l’environnement. Autres facteurs comme l’extinction d’un nœud suite à l’épuisement de sa batterie ou à une faute générique peuvent impacter l’hétérogénéité de la répartition des nœuds. Tous ces phénomènes peuvent être perçus comme une source supplémentaire d’hétérogénéité dans les réseaux de capteurs sans fil. Puisque les facteurs d’hétérogénéité peuvent évoluer tant au cours du temps que dans l’espace, il est indispensable de concevoir des mécanismes adaptatifs pour les réseaux hétérogènes de capteurs afin de réagir et de s’adapter à la dynamique du réseau. De tels mécanismes adaptatifs sont toutefois difficiles à mettre en place. L’objectif majeur de cette thèse est d’étudier les problèmes liés à l’hétérogénéité dans les réseaux de capteurs sans fil afin de concevoir des méthodes de contrôle de l’accès au canal (Medium Access Control – MAC) qui s’adaptent à la dynamique de l’hétérogénéité tout en étant économe d’un point de vue énergétique. Deux sources d’hétérogénéité sont envisagées.Dans un premier temps, nous considérons les problématiques liées aux sources dans trafics multiples chacune dotée de caractéristiques et contraintes spécifiques. Pour pallier ce problème, un protocole MAC adaptatif basé sur une approche asynchrone est proposé ; il consiste en une méthode MAC de préservation de l’énergie, couplée à l’utilisation d’un instant de rendez-vous pour la transmission des données. Le protocole proposé, LA-MAC pour Low-Latency MAC, permet de garantir de façon efficace le transport de messages au travers d’un réseau multi-sauts grâce à la transmission d’agrégats de données (bursts). De vastes campagnes de simulations numériques corroborent la supériorité de LA-MAC en termes de latence, de taux de paquets correctement délivrés et de consommation énergétique par rapport à d’autres protocoles présentés dans l’état de l’art.Dans un second temps, nous étudions des réseaux dynamiques de capteurs sans fil, dont la densité de nœuds varie en temps et en espace. Cette densité des nœuds dans le réseau peut se définir comme étant le nombre de dispositifs avec des données à émettre par mètre carré. En effet, de brusques augmentations de la densité résultent en un accroissement du taux de paquets perdus en raison d’une hausse de la probabilité de collision des trames. En outre, une baisse de la densité des nœuds peut causer un gaspillage énergétique dû à une écoute oisive. Dans ce mémoire, nous traitons des réseaux dynamiques de capteurs sans fils dans lesquels les nœuds et les liens radio entre ces nœuds peuvent apparaître ou disparaître au cours du temps en raison de l’épuisement de leurs batterie, ou de toute autre opération d’administration du réseau, comme par exemple le déploiement de nœuds additionnels. Le travail présenté démontre qu’il est possible de fournir un support à la qualité de service (QoS) dans les réseaux dynamiques grâce à une méthode MAC adaptative et consciente de la densité, baptisée DA-MAC pour Density Aware MAC. Avec DA-MAC, les nœuds s’appuient sur la valeur de la densité locale et adaptent périodiquement les paramètres locaux qui régissent le protocole afin d’accéder au canal sans collision. L’efficacité du protocole proposé est présentée en comparaison d’autres protocoles de l’état de l’art dans de vastes campagnes de simulations numériques. / In this PhD thesis, we consider heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) in which several sensing devices with different characteristics coexist. In contrast to a homogeneous sensor network, in heterogeneous networks different sensors may sense different physical phenomena generating traffic that have different characteristics such as monitoring temperature, pressure, and humidity. Moreover, also information criticality can be heterogeneous. Deployment of nodes also introduces heterogeneity in the network. Depending on the specific application in fact, initial deployment can be random with the result that the distribution of nodes across the playground may be non-homogeneous. In addition to this, other factors such as node death because of energy resource exhaustion, mobility, or generic fault influence the heterogeneity of the distribution of nodes. All these characteristics can be considered as sources of heterogeneity of a WSN. Heterogeneity conditions may evolve during time and space, therefore, the design of a heterogeneous sensor networks requires adaptive mechanisms able to react to different characteristics, which is difficult to achieve. The goal of the thesis is to investigate the problems related to heterogeneity of sources in WSNs to design adaptive MAC methods that are able to take into account heterogeneity variations and are energy-efficient. We focus on two sources of heterogeneity.First, we study the problem of multiple traffic sources with different characteristics and constraints. Providing differentiated Quality of Service (QoS) such as low latency and high delivery ratio in large and multi-hops networks is a challenge due to limited energy resources of nodes. To solve this problem we propose an adaptive MAC protocol based on the asynchronous preamble sampling (PS) approach, a simple energy saving MAC technique, coupled with the idea of using a rendezvous time for data transmission. The proposed protocol (Low-Latency MAC, LA-MAC), is able to ensure efficient message forwarding throughout a multi-hop network thanks to the transmission of bursts. When messages need to be forwarded, each receiver behaves like coordinator to organize efficient transmission of contending senders. The innovation of the proposed protocol comes from combining enriched PS preambles to locally organize data transmission in a collision limited way. Extensive numerical simulations show that LA-MAC outperforms other state-of-the- art protocols in terms of latency, delivery ratio, and energy consumption.The precise evaluation of the energy consumption in large wireless sensor networks that use preamble sampling MAC is difficult. In this thesis, we propose an analytic model for energy evaluation of PS that depends on the instantaneous traffic load of localized regions so that it is independent of the network traffic patterns that can also be heterogeneous. Second, we study dynamic WSNs with density of nodes that varies across space and time. Such networks are characterized by high variability in terms of node densities. Rapid density variation may affect the network state effecting the collision probability and energy consumption of devices. We address the case of dynamic wireless sensor networks in which nodes and/or radio links may appear and disappear over time due to battery exhaustion, node mobility, or network management operations. With the work presented in this thesis we show that it is possible to provide QoS support in dynamic networks using an adaptive Density Aware MAC (DA-MAC) method. The proposed protocol offers a configurable channel sensing phase during which nodes request transmission opportunity in a way that avoids collisions. With DA-MAC, nodes periodically adapt their local protocol parameters to access the channel without collisions depending on local density state. The efficiency of the proposed protocol with respect to other state-of-the-art protocols is shown with extensive numerical simulations.