Multi-objective hierarchical algorithms for restoring Wireless Sensor Network connectivity in known environments

A Wireless Sensor Network can become partitioned due to node failure, requiring the deployment of additional relay nodes in order to restore network connectivity. This introduces an optimisation problem involving a tradeoff between the number of additional nodes that are required and the costs of moving through the sensor field for the purpose of node placement. This tradeoff is application-dependent, influenced for example by the relative urgency of network restoration. We propose a family of algorithms based on hierarchical objectives including complete algorithms and heuristics which integrate network design with path planning, recognising the impact of obstacles on mobility and communication. We conduct an empirical evaluation of the algorithms on random connectivity and mobility graphs, showing their relative performance in terms of node and path costs, and assessing their execution speeds. Finally, we examine how the relative importance of the two objectives influences the choice of algorithm. In summary, the algorithms which prioritise the node cost tend to find graphs with fewer nodes, while the algorithm which prioritise the cost of moving find slightly larger solutions but with cheaper mobility costs. The heuristic algorithms are close to the optimal algorithms in node cost, and higher in mobility costs. For fast moving agents, the node algorithms are preferred for total restoration time, and for slow agents, the path algorithms are preferred

An adaptive, energy-aware and distributed fault-tolerant topology-control algorithm for heterogeneous wireless sensor networks

This paper introduces an adaptive, energy-aware and distributed fault-tolerant topology-control algorithm, namely the Adaptive Disjoint Path Vector (ADPV) algorithm, for heterogeneous wireless sensor networks. In this heterogeneous model, we have resource-rich supernodes as well as ordinary sensor nodes that are supposed to be connected to the supernodes. Unlike the static alternative Disjoint Path Vector (DPV) algorithm, the focus of ADPV is to secure supernode connectivity in the presence of node failures, and ADPV achieves this goal by dynamically adjusting the sensor nodes' transmission powers. The ADPV algorithm involves two phases: a single initialization phase, which occurs at the beginning, and restoration phases, which are invoked each time the network's supernode connectivity is broken. Restoration phases utilize alternative routes that are computed at the initialization phase by the help of a novel optimization based on the well-known set-packing problem. Through extensive simulations, we demonstrate that ADPV is superior in preserving supernode connectivity. In particular, ADPV achieves this goal up to a failure of 95% of the sensor nodes; while the performance of DPV is limited to 5%. In turn, by our adaptive algorithm, we obtain a two-fold increase in supernode-connected lifetimes compared to DPV algorithm. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Connectivity restoration and amelioration in wireless ad-hoc networks: A practical solution

International audienceConnectivity restoration after a node failure is one of the major issues in wireless ad-hoc networks. In particular, failures can lead to a network partitioning and a huge loss of information. Therefore, a fast mechanism is needed to heal the network between the partitions. In this paper, we consider the scenario where an intermediate node failures and a mobile system is moving autonomously to restore connectivity and provide the best service. We propose a fast connectivity restoration algorithm that is based only on local information. We implement our solution on a real robotic platform and we present some experimental results using a simple case scenario

Autonomous discovery and repair of damage in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks in volatile environments may suffer damage, and connectivity must be restored. The repairing agent must discover surviving nodes and damage to the physical and radio environment as it moves around the sensor field to execute the repair. We compare two approaches, one which re-generates a full plan whenever it discovers new knowledge, and a second which attempts to minimise the required number of new radio nodes. We apply each approach with two different heuristics, one which attempts to minimise the cost of new radio nodes, and one which aims to minimise the travel distance. We conduct extensive simulation-based experiments, varying key parameters, including the level of damage suffered, and comparing directly with the published state-of-the-art. We quantify the relative performance of the different algorithms in achieving their objectives, and also measure the execution times to assess the impact on being able to make autonomous decisions in reasonable time

A Point Set Connection Problem for Autonomous Mobile Robots in a Grid

Consider an orthogonal grid of streets and avenues in a Manhattan-like city populated by stationary sensor modules at some intersections and mobile robots that can serve as relays of information that the modules exchange, where both module-module and module-robot communication is limited to a straight line of sight within the grid. The robots are oblivious and move asynchronously. We present a distributed algorithm that, given the sensor locations as input, moves the robots to suitable locations in the grid so that a connected network of all modules is established. The number of robots that the algorithm uses is worst case optimal

Planning the deployment of fault-tolerant wireless sensor networks

Since Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are subject to failures, fault-tolerance becomes an important requirement for many WSN applications. Fault-tolerance can be enabled in different areas of WSN design and operation, including the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer and the initial topology design. To be robust to failures, a MAC protocol must be able to adapt to traffic fluctuations and topology dynamics. We design ER-MAC that can switch from energy-efficient operation in normal monitoring to reliable and fast delivery for emergency monitoring, and vice versa. It also can prioritise high priority packets and guarantee fair packet deliveries from all sensor nodes. Topology design supports fault-tolerance by ensuring that there are alternative acceptable routes to data sinks when failures occur. We provide solutions for four topology planning problems: Additional Relay Placement (ARP), Additional Backup Placement (ABP), Multiple Sink Placement (MSP), and Multiple Sink and Relay Placement (MSRP). Our solutions use a local search technique based on Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedures (GRASP). GRASP-ARP deploys relays for (k,l)-sink-connectivity, where each sensor node must have k vertex-disjoint paths of length ≤ l. To count how many disjoint paths a node has, we propose Counting-Paths. GRASP-ABP deploys fewer relays than GRASP-ARP by focusing only on the most important nodes – those whose failure has the worst effect. To identify such nodes, we define Length-constrained Connectivity and Rerouting Centrality (l-CRC). Greedy-MSP and GRASP-MSP place minimal cost sinks to ensure that each sensor node in the network is double-covered, i.e. has two length-bounded paths to two sinks. Greedy-MSRP and GRASP-MSRP deploy sinks and relays with minimal cost to make the network double-covered and non-critical, i.e. all sensor nodes must have length-bounded alternative paths to sinks when an arbitrary sensor node fails. We then evaluate the fault-tolerance of each topology in data gathering simulations using ER-MAC