Energy-efficient data collection under precision constraints in wireless sensor networks

Since nodes in wireless sensor networks (WSN) are energy-limited, energy-efficiency in collaborative applications is a technological barrier to expand them. One possible solution is to exploit data reported by nodes because they are in most cases correlated in time and space. In this paper, we define a novel binary integer linear program to resolve the problem of energy minimisation under data precision constraints (EMDP). This program helps us determine the most appropriate nodes and give each one of them a specific role in data collection based on data correlation. Given the complexity of EMDP, we propose a heuristic solution (CORAD) to structure the network topology into multi-hop reconfigurable clusters. Supported by numerical simulations, CORAD is shown to be an acceptable solution to the EMDP problem.