Topology control for minimal path interference in wireless sensor networks

Topology control problem has been deeply studied in wireless sensor networks. Some methods try to minimize the maximal or average link interference, which may result in larger accumulative interference than the optimum for some node pairs. In this paper, we define the concept of path interference formally. And the path interference of the topology constructed by LIFE (Low Interference Forest Establisher) algorithm is even about O(D) factor of the optimum, where D is the network diameter. Thus, a localized algorithm, called LDPA, is presented to construct an efficient topology which guarantees the minimal path interference among any node pair. Moreover, we study the trade-off between the path interference and energy cost, thus define the problem of epsiv -interference. And an efficient algorithm, called epsiv -PI, is presented to solve it. The paper also theoretically proves that the proposed algorithms can satisfy the certain properties, such as minimal path interference or approximate path interference as well. And the experimental results show that the average path interference of LDPA is less than 1/2 of that of LIFE algorithm.