“…To prolong network lifetime while meeting certain network specifications, one proposed direction is to deploy a small number of relay nodes (RNs) in the WSN such that they can communicate with the SNs and other RNs [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]. Relay node placement problems can be classified into either single-tiered or two-tiered based on the routing structures [5], [6], [9], [14] and into either connected or survivable based on the connectivity requirements [13], [5], [7], [15]. In single-tiered relay node placement, a SN also forwards packets received from other nodes.…”