Mobile Sensor Relocation to Prolong the Lifetime of Wireless Sensor Networks

The wireless sensor network (WSN) has recently attracted considerable attention due to the low price and ease to deploy it. In particular, in a hostile or harsh regions where sensors cannot be deployed manually, WSNs can be established just by dropping sensors from the air. In this case, however, most likely sensors are not placed at optimal positions, although the location of sensors does have a drastic impact on the WSN performance. Moreover, randomized deployment algorithm can leave holes in terms of coverage in the sensing area. This paper proposes a sensor relocation scheme where mobile sensors move to patch up the holes by appropriate coverage. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms prior existing schemes in terms of coverage and lifespan of WSNs.