Trading sensing coverage for an extended network lifetime

One of the main benefits of using Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is that they can be deployed in remote locations without any prior infrastructure. Because of this nodes are normally battery powered. This limits the performance of the network. In this paper, we propose a novel method of scheduling nodes based on a user's sensing coverage requirement. Through the use of our proposed scheduling algorithm (Ncut-GA), it is shown that the duration in which the user's coverage requirement is met can be extended. When compared with a previously published algorithm (Greedy-MSC), the proposed algorithm is able to increase the coverage duration by up to 33%. Furthermore it is also shown that the duration of which the WSN can operate till the first node dies can be improved by up to 125% through the used of Ncut-GA.