Movement-assisted sensor deployment

Abstract-Adequate coverage is very important for sensor networks to fulfill the issued sensing tasks. In many working environments, it is necessary to make use of mobile sensors, which can move to the correct places to provide the required coverage. In this paper, we study the problem of placing mobile sensors to get high coverage. Based on Voronoi diagrams, we design two sets of distributed protocols for controlling the movement of sensors, one favoring communication and one favoring movement. In each set of protocols, we use Voronoi diagrams to detect coverage holes and use one of three algorithms to calculate the target locations of sensors it holes exist. Simulation results show the effectiveness of our protocols and give insight on choosing protocols and calculation algorithms under different application requirements and working conditions.

1 Introduction

Wireless sensor networks can greatly enhance our capability to monitor and control the physical environment. Sensor networks are revolutionizing the traditional methods of data collection, bridging the gap between the physical world and the virtual information world [11], [15], [24], [28]. Sensor nodes must be deployed appropriately to reach an adequate coverage level for the successful completion of the issued sensing tasks [5], [21].