Sensor Deployment Through Geometric Cooperation

Abstract

Mobile ad hoc sensor networks often need cooperation-sensors working together to achieve their common goal. How does cooperation help mobile autonomous sensors position themselves in effective locations? This paper uses mathematical simulation to study this question about sensor deployment and efficiency. The goal is to distribute sensors over a region of interest in the plane in a balanced way to ensure uniform coverage and equalized load. This paper generalizes an algorithm for accomplishing this in a distributed, cooperative, computationally efficient manner, while also allowing for a generalized notion of balance for nonhomogeneous zones and variable-capable sensors (i.e., some zones are more important than others and some sensors are more capable than others).