A Bi-objective Virtual-force Local Search PSO Algorithm for Improving Sensing Deployment in Wireless Sensor Network

In this paper, we present a bi-objective virtual-force local search particle swarm optimization (BVFPSO) algorithm to improve the placement of sensors in wireless sensor networks while it simultaneously increases the coverage rate and preserves the battery energy of the sensors. Mostly, sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network are first randomly deployed in the target area, and their deployment should be then modified such that some objective functions are obtained. In the proposed BVFPSO algorithm, PSO is used as the basic meta-heuristic algorithm and the virtual-force operator is used as the local search. As far as we know, this is the first time that a bi-objective PSO algorithm has been combined with a virtual force operator to improve the coverage rate of sensors while preserving their battery energy. The results of the simulations on some initial random deployments with the different numbers of sensors show that the BVFPSO algorithm by combining two objectives and using virtual-force local search is enabled to achieve a more efficient deployment in comparison to the competitive algorithms PSO, GA, FRED and VFA with providing simultaneously maximum coverage rate and the minimum energy consumption.