Energy-Efficient k-Coverage for Wireless Sensor Networks with Variable Sensing Radii

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) consist of spatially-distributed autonomous sensors that can cooperatively monitor physical and environmental conditions. Because of sensors´ resource-constraints in terms of size, power, and bandwidth, one of the fundamental objectives in WSNs is improving energy-efficiency. In this paper, utilizing sensors with variable sensing radii, we propose a group-based technique to obtain energy-efficient k-coverage based on our previous work with the Delaunay-Triangulation-based I-coverage algorithm. Our sensing-radii optimization technique ensures full coverage and attains nearly-optimal energy consumption in sensing. Furthermore, our ns-2 simulations confirm that the group-based k-coverage reduces sensing energy consumption and maintains a sound coverage ratio for reliable surveillance.