Two distributed algorithms for heterogeneous sensor network deployment towards maximum coverage

Autonomous deployment of mobile agents for coverage enhancement is an important issue in wireless sensor networks. The major challenge lies in the requirement of efficient distributed and localized computing. In addition, managing the coverage of heterogeneous sensing model is complicated due to the diversity of sensing ranges and the irregularity of coverage holes. This paper presents two distributed algorithms for maximizing the sensing coverage in heterogeneous sensor networks. The first algorithm is based on a circle packing technique. We prove the uniqueness of a circle packing up to a given triangulation and boundary conditions, thus the designated coverage layout can be achieved by controlling the boundary conditions. In the second algorithm, we give a formulation of virtual forces among sensor nodes to reduce redundant overlaps and avoid coverage holes. We prove that these virtual forces always give a quasioptimal local coverage. This method is applicable for deployment of sensor nodes in, not only an open field, but also any bounded field of interest and/or in the presence of obstacles. Numerical simulations are showed and these examples verify that the proposed algorithms always yield sensor deployments of wide coverage and collision free motions among sensor nodes. The proposed strategies utilize only the local information about a sensor node and its neighbors, thus providing distributed, efficient and scalable solutions to the deployment problem.