An energy-efficient M2M communication method for leakage detection in underground water pipes

Abstract

An application of machine-to-machine (M2M) communication for leakage detection in underground water infrastructures is considered. A mobile sensor immersed in the water pipe is assumed to communicate with relay nodes on the ground surface, relaying its measured information to a base station for processing. An energy-efficient communication approach based on the cooperation between relay nodes is proposed. The optimal energy minimizing solution is derived and compared to a practical low complexity method. The proposed approach is shown to lead to significant energy savings and to perform closely to the optimal solution. In addition, it is shown to lead to data transmission with considerably shorter delays.