In-network processing for skyline queries in sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks can be used in various fields, e.g., military and civil applications. The technique of saving energy to prolong the life of sensor nodes is one of main challenges to resourceconstrained sensor networks. Therefore, in-network aggregation of data has been proposed in resource-constrained environments for energy efficiency. Most previous works on in-network aggregation only support a onedimensional data (e.g., MIN and MAX). To support a multi-dimensional data, the skyline query is used. The skyline query returns a set of points that are not dominated by any other point on all dimensions. The majority of previous skyline query processing methods (e.g., BNL and BBS) work on centralized storage. Centralized query processing methods do not have merits in terms of energy efficiency in high event rate environments. In this paper, we propose new algorithm of in-network processing for the skyline queries. The proposed algorithm reduces the communication cost and evenly distributes load. The experimental results show the advantages of our algorithm over in-network aggregation in terms of improving energy efficiency.