Sampling based sensor-network deployment

Volkan Isler, Sampath Kannan, Kostas Daniilidis

Abstract: In this paper, we consider the problem of placing networked sensors in a way that guarantees coverage and connectivity. We focus on sampling based deployment and present algorithms that guarantee coverage and connectivity with a small number of sensors. We consider two different scenarios based on the flexibility of deployment. If deployment has to be accomplished in one step, like airborne deployment, then the main question becomes how many sensors are needed. If deployment can be implemented in multiple steps, then awareness of coverage and connectivity can be updated. For this case, we present incremental deployment algorithms, which consider the current placement to adjust the sampling domain. The algorithms are simple, easy to implement, and require a small number of sensors. We believe the concepts and algorithms presented in this paper provide a unifying framework for existing and future deployment algorithms, which consider many practical issues not considered in the present work.