Rate Allocation with Lifetime Maximization and Fairness for Data Aggregation in Sensor Networks

We consider the rate allocation problem for data aggregation in wireless sensor networks with two objectives: 1) maximizing the lifetime of a local aggregation cluster and, 2) achieving fairness among all data sources. The two objectives are generally correlated with each other and usually they cannot be maximized simultaneously. We adopt a lexicographic method to solve this multi-objective programming problem. First, we recursively induce the maximum lifetime for the local aggregation cluster. Under the given maximum lifetime, we then formulate the problem of maximizing fairness as a convex optimization problem, and derive the optimal rate allocation strategy. We also present low-complexity algorithms that a local aggregation cluster can use to determine the optimal rate allocation. Our simulation results validate our analytical results and illustrate the effectiveness of the approach.