Coverage and Reliability of Randomly Distributed Sensor Systems with Heterogeneous Detection Range

Abstract

In this article, we examine the coverage and reliability of distributed sensor networks that are designed for surveillance applications. In particular, we examine a model of sensor network coverage based on Poisson processes, and illustrate how this model combines with standard reliability models to provide estimates of field degradation over time. The results of the article illustrate how the number of sensors required changes with respect to reliability criteria, and how to design and re-seed sensor fields to maintain a minimal level of surveillance coverage. The formulation in the article is presented analytically, and all results are compared to numerical simulations.

Keywords:

• Coverage
• Heterogeneous
• Reliability
• Sensor Networks

This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research Code 321MS and by the In-House Laboratory Independent Research Program of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center.

Notes

¹That is, for any subset A ⊂ Ω, the probability that A contains k of the randomly distributed sensors is given by (1).

²We use the term approximately because we assume that sensors are randomly distributed according to a spatial Poisson point process with parameter . That is, the mean number of sensors distributed over Ω will be .