UREA: an algorithm for maximisation of coverage in stochastic deployment of wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Coverage is an important parameter to determine the effectiveness of wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we present a new algorithm called uncovered region exploration algorithm (UREA) to enhance the coverage after an initial random deployment using binary and probabilistic sensor detection models. UREA decides a new location based on an uncovered region around a node. Once the effective sensor positions are identified, a one-time movement of each node is carried out to redeploy a sensor at its new position. This one-time displacement of sensor benefits a deployed network to improve coverage. UREA is found to be consistent, robust and versatile to achieve multi-level coverage and suit non-homogeneous sensor deployments. The extensive simulation results show that UREA performs better than the existing deployment algorithms.

Keywords:

• wireless sensor network
• coverage
• deployment
• mobility
• k-cover

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for a variety of valuable comments from the anonymous reviewers.