Mixed integer formulations for the probabilistic minimum energy broadcast problem in wireless networks

In this paper we study a new variant of the Minimum Energy Broadcast (MEB) problem, namely the Probabilistic MEB (PMEB). The objective of the classic MEB problem is to assign transmission powers to the nodes of a wireless network is such a way that the total energy dissipated on the network is minimized, while a connected broadcasting structure is guaranteed by the assigned transmission powers. In the new variant of the problem treated in this paper, node failure is taken into account, aiming at providing solutions with a chosen reliability level for the broadcasting structure. Three mixed integer linear programming formulations for the new problem are presented, together with efficient formulation-dependent methods for their solution. Computational results are proposed and discussed. One method emerges as the most promising one under realistic settings. It is able to handle problems with up to fifty nodes.