Study of Algorithms for the Coverage Problem in Wireless Sensor Networks

Recently, Wireless Sensor Network has captured the attention of academic and industrial research communities. One of the reasons is that Wireless Sensor Network has diverse applications and domains such as environment protection, battlefield monitoring, traffic control, etc. The central problem of a Wireless Sensor Network is the Coverage Problem that poses the question of how the set of sensors can be deployed to cover the area to be monitored called Network Field. In this paper, we will study three published algorithms that solve different aspects of the coverage problem: k-Coverage, Best Coverage Path, and Sensor Scheduling. The main ideas in these algorithms are based on Computational Geometry concepts such as Delaunay Triangulation and Voronoi Diagram. The k-Coverage algorithm computes the coverage level of the perimeter points of a circle centered at a given sensor location. Using the Best Coverage Path, one can determine a path that an agent can travel in the network field to get maximal support from the sensors. The Sensor Scheduling algorithm tries to reduce the number of active sensors by overlaying the network field with a Voronoi Diagram, and removing smallest cells. While the k-Coverage and Best Coverage Path algorithms provide the coverage quality of a network field, this paper proposes a scheme that makes use of these algorithms to improve the coverage level. A heuristic program that makes use of the k-Coverage algorithm was implemented. Along with the description of the three algorithms, time complexity analysis is also presented. Experimental results based on a Java implementation of the algorithms are reported at the end of the paper. 3 1. Introduction Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) has captured the attention of the research community in Telecommunications and Computer Science. A WSN is a network of small devices that have the capability of sensing, communication, and energy self-sufficient. WSN has applications in various domains: environment protection, habitat monitoring, weather forecast, traffic control, water management [10], etc. One important problem in WSN is the Coverage Problem, which consists of installing and configuring sensor nodes so that the coverage area is maximized. In this project, I would like to study the different aspects of the Coverage Problem in Wireless Sensor Networks. In particular, three typical algorithms that were proposed in the literature will be studied and implemented. Interestingly, these algorithms are based on computational geometry. Furthermore, WSN is a multidisciplinary research field. Indeed, besides leveraging knowledge from Computational Geometry, Telecommunications, …