Coverage and Connectivity Issues in
Sensor Networks
Ten-Hwang Lai
Ohio State University
Outline
Introduction
to Sensor Networks
Coverage, Connectivity, Density Problems
A Sensor Node
Memory
(Application)
Processor
Sensor Actuator Network
Interface
Berkeley Mote:
a sensor device prototype
Atmel ATMEGA103
– 4 Mhz 8-bit CPU
– 128KB Instruction
Memory
– 4KB RAM
RFM TR1000 radio
– 50 kb/s
Network
programming
51-pin connector
Berkeley DOT Mote
Atmel AVR 8535
– 4MHz
– 8KB of Memory
– 0.5KB of RAM
Lowpower radio
Power consumption
– Active 5mA
– Standby 5μA
Berkeley Smart Dust
bi-directional
communications
sensor: acceleration
and ambient light
11.7 mm3 total
circumscribed
volume
4.8 mm3 total
displaced volume
Smart Clothing & Wearable Computing
Smart Underwear
Smart Eyeglasses
Smart Shoes
…
Speckled Computing
愛丁堡大學（ University of Edinburgh ）科學家即將研發出大小跟灰
塵差不多的超微型晶片 , 這些晶片可以分散或噴灑到物體上彼此溝通、傳遞
資訊。 這種名為斑點運算（ speckled computing ）的技術可望在三年
內成為事實。
將晶片噴到患者的衣物上 , 可監控其心跳 、呼吸與體溫。
Source: Silicon Glen R&D Update, April, 2003
Sensor Networks
Nodes:
– Limited in power, computational capacity,
memory, communication capacity
– Prone to failures
Networks
– Large scale
– High density
– Topology change
Sensor Deployment
How to deploy sensors over a field?
– Planned deployment
– Random deployment
Whatare desired properties of a “good”
deployment?
Coverage, Connectivity, Density
Every point is covered by a sensor
– K-covered
The network is connected
– K-connected
Nodes are not too dense
Others
Coverage, Connectivity, and Density
Problems
Simple coverage, k-coverage
Density control by turning on/off power
– PEAS
– OGDC
Topology control by adjusting power
– Homogeneous
– Per-node
Asymptotic connectivity/coverage
Covered Connected
If the covered area is convex and R t > 2Rs
Rt
Rs
Simple Coverage Problem
Given:an area and a sensor deployment
Question: Is the entire area covered?
1
8 R
2
7
6
3
4 5
Is the perimeter covered?
0 360
K-covered
1-covered
2-covered
3-covered
K-Coverage Problem
Given: an area, a sensor deployment, an
integer k
Question: Is the entire area k-covered?
1
8 R
2
7
6
3
4 5
Is the perimeter k-covered?
0 360
Density Control
Given:an area and a sensor deployment
Problem: turn on/off sensors to maximize the
coverage time of the sensor network
PEAS
PEAS: A robust energy conserving protocol
for long-lived sensor networks
Fan Ye, Gary Zhong, Jesse Cheng, Songwu
Lu, Lixia Zhang
UCLA
ICNP 2002
PEAS: basic idea
Sleep Wake up Go to yes
work
Work?
no
Design Issues
How often to wake up?
How to determine whether to work or not?
Wake-up rate?
Sleep Wake up Go to yes
work
Work?
no
How often to wake up?
Desired:the total wake-up rate around a
node equals some given value
How often to wake up?
f(t) = λ exp(- λt)
• exponential distribution
• λ = # of times of wake-up per unit time
• λ is dynamically adjusted
Wake-up rates
A
f(t) = λ exp(- λt)
B
f(t) = λ’ exp(- λ’t)
A + B: f(t) = (λ + λ’) exp(- (λ + λ’) t)
Adjust wake-up rates
Working node knows
– Desired wake-up rate λd
– Measured wake-up rate λm
Probing node adjusts its λ by
λ := λ (λd/ λm)
Go to work or return to sleep?
Depends on whether there is a working node
nearby.
Rp
Go back to sleep go to work
Rp
Is the resulting network covered or
connected?
If Rt ≥ (1 + √5) Rp and …
P(connected) →1
OGDC: Optimal Geographical Density
Control
“Maintaining Sensing Coverage and
Connectivity in Large sensor networks”
Honghai Zhang and Jennifer Hou
MobiCom’03
Basic Idea of OGDC
Minimize T, the total amount of overlap
– Equivalent to minimizing the number of working nodes
F(x) = the degree of overlap
T = ∫ F(x) dx
F( ) = 0
F( ) = 1
F( ) = 2
Minimum overlap
Optimal distance = √3 R
Minimum overlap
Near-optimal
OGDC: the Protocol
Time is divided into rounds. In each round,
each node decides whether to be active or
not.
1. Select a starting node. Turn it on and broadcast
a power-on message.
2. Select a node closest to the optimal position.
Turn it on and broadcast a power-on message.
Repeat this.
Selecting starting nodes
Each node volunteers with a probability p.
Backs off for a random amount of time. If hears
nothing during the back-off time, then sends a
power-on message carrying
Sender’s position
Desired direction
Select the next working node
On receiving a power-on message from a
starting node, each node sets a back-off
timer inversely proportional to its deviation
from the optimal position.
Onreceiving a power-on message from a
non-starting node
OGDC vs. PEAS
Coverage, Connectivity, and Density
Problems
Simple coverage, k-coverage
Density control by turning on/off power
– PEAS
– OGDC
Topology control by adjusting power
– Homogeneous
– Per-node
Asymptotic connectivity/coverage
Power Control for Coverage and
Connectivity
Randomly deploy n nodes over an area.
n: a large number.
How small can transmission power be in
order to ensure coverage/connectivity with
high probability?
Model
A: a unit area
n: number of nodes randomly deployed over A
R(n): transmission range
An edge exists between two nodes if their
distance is less than R(n).
G(n): the resulting graph.
Problem: determine R(n) which guarantees
G(n)’s connectivity with high probability.
On k- Connectivity for a Geometric
Random Graph, M.D. Penrose, 1999
R(n) = the minimum transmission range
required for G(n) to have k-connectivity
R’(n) = the minimum transmission range
required for G(n) to have degree k.
lim Prob( R(n) = R’(n) ) = 1, as n → infinity
R(n) ≈ R’(n) for large n
On the Minimum Node Degree and
connectivity of a Wireless Multihop Network,
C. Bettstetter, MobiHoc’02
Prob(G(n) is of degree k) can be calculated from
k, n, R’(n), node density
To determine R(n),
– Choose R’(n) so that Prob(G(n) is of degree k) ≈ 1
– With this transmission range, G is of degree k with
high probability
– So, G is k-connected with high probability
Application 1
N = 500 nodes
A = 1000m x 1000m
3-connected required
R=?
WithR = 100 m, G has degree 3 with
probability 0.99.
Thus, G is 3-connected with high probability.
Application 2
A = 1000m x 1000m
R = 50 m
3-connected required
N=?
Unreliable Sensor Grid: Coverage and
Connectivity, INFOCOM 2003
Active
Dead
Be active with a prob p(n)
transmission and sense
range R(n)
A necessary and sufficient
condition for the network to
remain covered and
connected
N nodes
Conditions for Asymptotic Coverage
and Connectivity
Necessary:
Sufficient:
Individually Adjusting Power
Homogeneous transmission range
Node-based transmission range
Problem: individually adjusts the
transmission range to guarantee
connectivity.
The k-Neigh Protocol for Symmetric
Topology Control in Ad Hoc Networks,
MobiHoc’03
K- neighbor graph.
Each node adjusts its transmission range so
it can communicate with its k nearest
neighbors
Is it connected?
The number of neighbors needed for
connectivity of wireless networks, F.
Xue and P.R. Kumar, UIUC
N nodes are uniformly placed in a unit
square.
lim Prob(K-neighbor graph is connected) = 1
if K ≥ 5.1774* log N
lim Prob(K-neighbor graph is disconnected) =
1 if K ≤ 0.074* log N
Summary
Coverage and connectivity problems
Simple coverage, k-coverage
Density control by turning on/off power
– PEAS
– OGDC
Topology control by adjusting power
– Homogeneous
– Per-node
Asymptotic connectivity/coverage
