JAIT 2024 Vol.15(3): 372-388
doi: 10.12720/jait.15.3.372-388

A Literature Review on Outlier Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks

Julio C. García1,2,* , Luis A. Rivera1,3 , Jonny Perez2

  • 1Faculty of Systems and Computer Engineering, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú
  • 2Faculty of Communication Science, Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí, Manta, Ecuador
  • 3Mathematical Sciences Laboratory, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

* Corresponding author

  • Manuscript receivedAugust 10, 2023
  • revisedAugust 30, 2023
  • acceptedOctober 25, 2023
  • publishedMarch 14, 2024

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks have become an important element of technologies such as the Internet of Things due to their ability to obtain sensory data from the physical world in tracking and monitoring applications. However, such networks are susceptible to the presence of outliers mainly due to errors or failures in the sensor nodes or the presence of events that alter the reading patterns. To address this problem, many researchers have turned their efforts to the development of outlier detection techniques that achieve maximum detection rate with the highest possible efficiency, given the limited resources typical of this type of networks. In this study, 33 papers on outlier detection techniques in wireless sensor networks between 2018 and 2023 were analyzed with the aim of describing the characteristics of these techniques, their metrics and test conditions, application areas, and possible limitations. The results showed mostly hybrid, distributed, online and multivariate sensing proposals in addition to the exploitation of spatiotemporal correlations of the data. In terms of efficiency, almost all of them reported detection rates above 85% and in several cases up to 100% but in specific conditions; with application areas especially related to environmental monitoring and care. Finally, the most relevant limitations encountered include high computational complexity and high resource consumption, sensitivity to parameters, lack of scalability, and dependence on specific assumptions about data distribution.

Keywords

  • Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)
  • outlier detection
  • Outlier Detection Techniques (ODTs)
  • fault detection
  • event detection
  • distributed detection
JAIT-V15N3-372

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Julio C. García, Luis A. Rivera, and Jonny Perez, "A Literature Review on Outlier Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks," Journal of Advances in Information Technology, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 372-388, 2024. https://doi.org/10.12720/jait.15.3.372-388

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2024 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).

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