Towards Efficient Wireless Video Sensor Networks: A Survey of Existing Node Architectures and Proposal for A Flexi-WVSNP Design

The video capture, processing, and communication in wireless video sensor networks critically depend on the resources of the nodes forming the sensor networks. We provide a survey of wireless video sensor node platforms (WVSNPs). From a comprehensive literature review, we first select the node architectures that meet basic requirements for a WVSNP. We then introduce a classification of WVSNPs into general purpose architectures, heavily coupled architectures, and externally dependent architectures. We thoroughly survey and contrast the existing WVSNPs within this classification framework. Based on the insights from our survey we develop a novel Flexi-WVSNP design. The Flexi-WVSNP design includes dual-radio communication, a middleware for sensor operation and communication control, as well as a cohesive hardware and software design.