A Coverage Holes Detecting Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks

Coverage completeness of wireless sensor networks is an important quality of service measure. We usually assume that events occurring in the region of interest will always be detected. However, this presumption is not realistic, particularly if there are coverage holes in wireless sensor networks. We identify sensor nodes that bound coverage holes, called boundary nodes, and investigate the properties of boundary nodes. The definition and calculations of boundary arcs and boundary vertexes are presented and applied to our algorithm. According to the theory that coverage holes inside of wireless sensor networks are completely surrounded by boundary arcs, this paper presents a coverage holes detecting algorithm by detecting boundary nodes and boundary arcs around the holes. Coverage holes on the border of the region will be also detected. Simulation results have verified the feasibility of the coverage holes detecting algorithm.