Simulation of wireless sensor networks under partial coverage

Abstract

This paper presents research using simulation to explore the sensitivity of the network lifetime of a wireless sensor network (WSN) under the constraint to maintain a chosen coverage percentage when different aspects of the node model are included. Specifically, we begin with a simple sensor node that can transition between an Awake mode and a Sleep mode, dependent on meeting the coverage constraint with a simple battery model that expends energy when the node is in the Awake mode. We then compare this network behavior to when the battery model includes battery recovery behavior. We conclude that while the difference between the behaviors is small, they are significant enough to warrant the inclusion of a more sophisticated battery model when modeling wireless sensor networks.