Coin: A COverage INcreasing Algorithm in Mixed Sensor Network

Sensor networks are systems of many small units that work together to monitor a given environment. A mixed sensor network is composed of a collection of static and mobile nodes that has sensing, computation, communication, and locomotion capabilities. Sensor mobility can be used to compensate for the lack of sensors and improve network coverage. This paper aims to describe an algorithm called Coin for mixed sensor network deployment in an unknown environment by using a small number of mobile sensors. It allows the network to achieve maximum coverage with minimum energy consumption. Our solution includes distributed schemes for: 1) determining the exact size of a coverage hole; 2) determining the number and locations of mobile sensors for covering a hole; 3) calling mobile sensors. Coin is an extension of CovEN algorithm, from [3]. Our distributed algorithm was implemented and simulated with NS-2 for performance evaluation. Simulation experiments show that our algorithm achieves the best results of coverage percentage.