A GRASP heuristic to Density Control: Solving multi-period coverage and Routing Problems in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are composed of autonomous and resource-constrained (power, sensing, radios, and processors) nodes. These networks are conceived to have a large number of nodes working on monitoring phenomena in an area. So, a major challenge for this networks is to provide solutions that maximize quality of service (QoS) requirements, such as coverage and data routing, and minimize the energy consumption. This paper presents an algorithm that uses the GRASP metaheuristic, to solve the density control, coverage and routing multi- period problem (DCCRMP) in flat WSNs. The proposed solution is compared to the solution obtained by solving, with a commercial optimization software, an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) model proposed for the DCCRMP. The computational results show that the algorithm successfully meets the QoS requirements considered in this work and provides solutions close or equal to the optimal with reduced execution time.