The Energy-Data Dual Coverage in Battery-free Sensor Networks

Battery-free sensor network is a new network architecture in which battery-free nodes can harvest energy from the ambient environment and the network lifetime is unlimited in terms of energy. However, the unbalanced ambient energy distribution results in a low data coverage quality of the battery-free sensor network. In this paper, we want to deploy artificial power stations in the monitored region, improve the energy distribution and achieve the energy-data dual coverage. We have investigated two energy-data dual coverage problems in this paper to meet different user requirements. We have proved that these two problems are at least NP-Hard. Two approximated algorithms are proposed accordingly to solve these two problems. The ratio bound and time complexity of these two algorithms are analyzed. Furthermore, extensive simulations are carried out to evaluate the performance of the algorithms. The experimental results show that the algorithms are effective and efficient.