Conflict and coalition models in inhomogeneous power allocation for wireless sensor networks

In a wireless sensor network (WSN), the heterogeneous types of sensors can be viewed as intelligent agents that interact with each other locally. The sensors interact with each other either in a cooperative way to form coalitions or in a noncooperative way to deal with conflicts. In this way, the sensors ultimately form desirable topology patterns in terms of various applications. This article addresses the transmit power control problem of sensor networks in the context of two different but related situations: noncooperative game versus cooperative game. Heterogeneity poses challenges to system design of WSN, while practical applications require a distributed power control algorithm to ensure reliability as well as power efficiency. We analyzed the rationales for both assumptions and the corresponding applicability in WSN. The solution concepts in both circumstances are proposed. We study both the utility function for individual nodes and the characteristic function for a coalition to achieve desirable frame success rate and node degree while minimizing the power consumption. We propose power allocation algorithms for network formation resulting from both selfish nodes and cooperative nodes.