Boundary recognition in sensor networks by topological methods

Wireless sensor networks are tightly associated with the underlying environment in which the sensors are deployed. The global topology of the network is of great importance to both sensor network applications and the implementation of networking functionalities. In this paper we study the problem of topology discovery, in particular, identifying boundaries in a sensor network. Suppose a large number of sensor nodes are scattered in a geometric region, with nearby nodes communicating with each other directly. Our goal is to find the boundary nodes by using only connectivity information. We do not assume any knowledge of the node locations or inter-distances, nor do we enforce that the communication graph follows the unit disk graph model. We propose a simple, distributed algorithm that correctly detects nodes on the boundaries and connects them into meaningful boundary cycles. We obtain as a byproduct the medial axis of the sensor field, which has applications in creating virtual coo...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: MOBICOM
• Authors: Yue Wang, Jie Gao, Joseph S. B. Mitchell
• Keywords: MOBICOM 2006, Sensor Network, Sensor Network Applications, Wireless Sensor Networks