Movement-Assisted Sensor Deployment Algorithms: A Survey and Taxonomy

One of the fundamental design issues in mobile wireless sensor networks is how to design efficient movement-assisted sensor deployment algorithms that relocate the sensor nodes in order to meet the desired performance goals. This survey focuses on a variety of movement-assisted sensor deployment algorithms that have been proposed and studied by researchers and highlights their strengths and limitations. The various models, assumptions, objectives, and constraints are identified, and the different formulations are enumerated. A taxonomy of movement-assisted sensor deployment algorithms that captures the fundamental differences among existing solutions is introduced. Six classes of approaches are identified, each one of them uses a specific principle to relocate the nodes from their initial position to a new target position. The proposed taxonomy is used to provide an exhaustive classification of existing approaches. For each identified class, various self-deployment algorithms are discussed. Furthermore, comparisons between the different algorithms and also between the different classes are performed, therefore providing not only a complete view of the state-of-the-art but also useful insights for selecting the self-deployment algorithm most appropriate to the application at hand. This paper also highlights open problems in this area of research.