Autonomous deployment of wireless sensor networks for optimal coverage with directional sensing model

Sensor deployment is an important aspect of network architecture for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Although many solutions to mobile sensors deployment have been proposed, controlling mobile sensors with directional sensing ability towards optimal coverage remains to be an open problem. In this paper, we take the initiative to handle the Coverage Maximizing Mobile Sensor Deployment Problem (CMMSDP) with directional and arbitrarily oriented sensors. Our proposal consists of two algorithms. The first one, Concurrent Rotation and Motion Control (CRMC), is a localized iterative algorithm derived from optimality conditions, so it aims at reaching local maximum. The second algorithm, Staged Rotation and Motion Control (SRMC), decouples rotation and motion controls in order to reduce the computation complexity with slight sacrifice in optimality. We derive optimality and complexity results for both algorithms. We also implement our algorithms in TOSSIM and evaluate them against commonly used metrics. The promising results confirm the absolute feasibility of our proposals.