Fuzzy Validation and Fusion for Wireless Sensor Networks

Miniaturized, distributed, networked sensors called motes promise to be smaller, less expensive and more versatile than other sensing alternatives. While these motes may have less individual reliability, high accuracy for the overall system is still desirable. Sensor validation and fusion algorithms provide a mechanism to extract pertinent information from massively sensed data and identify incipient sensor failures. Fuzzy approaches have proven to be effective and robust in challenging sensor validation and fusion applications. The algorithm developed in this paper – called mote-FVF (fuzzy validation and fusion) – uses a fuzzy approach to define the correlation among sensor readings, assign a confidence value to each of them, and perform a fused weighted average. A sensor network implementing mote-FVF for monitoring the illuminance in a dimmable fluorescent lighting environment empirically demonstrates the timely response of the algorithm to sudden changes in normal operating conditions while correctly isolating faulty sensor readings.