Coverage and connectivity-aware clustering within k hops in wireless sensor and actuator networks

Wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) are a new kind of heterogeneous wireless sensor networks. Because actuators should provide maximal coverage for the sensed data, sensor-actuator connectivity is very important. However, no research considered both the maximal coverage and connectivity of sensor-actuator. Once the sensors are out of coverage or the connectivity fails, the actuators cannot perform the correct actions for the area of interest. If a sensor cannot build a routing path from itself to any actuator, it becomes an orphan sensor. We therefore propose a coverage and connectivity aware clustering within k-hops (CCAC-k). In CCAC-k, sensors pick a cluster head before the actuators have been placed. All sensors are covered by at least one actuator and there are no orphan sensors in the monitored area, even when deployed randomly. Simulation results demonstrate that the coverage and connectivity of CCAC-k is higher than that of existing WSAN clustering solutions. CCAC-k also deploys fewer actuators than existing clustering solutions In addition, the coverage and connectivity in CCAC-k remains at 100% even under changes in the ratio of the transmission radius of the actuator to that of the sensor or the number of sensors. Finally, the number of actuators deployed in CCAC-k can be decreased if this or the number of sensors increased.