Energy efficient monitoring in sensor networks

In this paper we study a set of problems related to efficient energy management for monitoring applications in wireless sensor networks. We study several generalizations of a basic problem called Set k-Cover, which can be described as follows: we are given a set of sensors, and a set of regions to be monitored. Each region can be monitored by a subset of the sensors. To increase the lifetime of the sensor network, we would like to partition the sensors into k sets (or time-slots) and activate each partition in a different time-slot. The goal is to find the partitioning that maximizes the coverage of the regions. This problem is known to be NP-hard. We first develop improved approximation algorithms for this problem based on its similarities to the max k-cut problem. We then consider a variation, called Set (k, alpha)-cover, where each sensor is allowed to be active in a different time-slots. We develop a randomized routing algorithm for this problem. We then consider extensions where each sensor can monitor only a bounded number of regions in any time-slot. We develop the first approximation algorithms for this problem. An experimental evaluation of the algorithms we propose can be found in the full version of the paper.