Potential Field Based Hierarchical Structure for Mobile Sensor Network Deployment

Deployment of mobile nodesin a region of interest is a critical issue in building a mobile sensor network because it affects cost and detection capabilities of the system. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical structure using potential fields for mobile sensor network deployment. A group of mobile nodes first form a cluster using a potential field method and then cluster heads are used to establish a hexagonal structure that employs a higher level potential field. The validity and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are compared to the conventional method in simulations.