An SDN-assisted Framework for Optimal Deployment of MapReduce Functions in WSNs

In this paper, we propose a solution to support big data processing with MapReduce inside a wireless sensor network(WSN). The proposed framework provides a simple MapReduce interface, whose implementation can be dynamically loaded into theappropriate nodes. The execution of map and reduce functions inside the network is achieved by leveraging software definednetworking principles and in particular by enhancing the SDN-WISE protocol on both the Controller and the sensor node sides. On theController side, the proposed framework introduces a functionality, which evaluates the optimal deployment of the processing functionsin the network taking the typical WSN requirements into account and enforces it by instructing the flow tables to forward traffic from themappers to the appropriate reducers. Then, on the node side, SDN-WISE is integrated with Contiki, a widely popular operating systemfor sensor nodes, which has the capability to load and execute new functions without service disruption, i.e., on the fly. The proposedframework is evaluated considering different network topologies and approaches about the data processing location.