Clustering of wireless sensor and actor networks based on sensor distribution and connectivity

Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks (WSANs) employ significantly more capable actor nodes that can collect data from sensors and perform application specific actions. To take these actions collaboratively at any spot in the monitored regions, maximal actor coverage along with inter-actor connectivity is desirable. In this paper, we propose a distributed actor positioning and clustering algorithm which employs actors as cluster-heads and places them in such a way that the coverage of actors is maximized and the data gathering and acting times are minimized. Such placement of actors is done by determining the k-hop Independent Dominating Set(IDS) of the underlying sensor network. Basically, before the actors are placed, the sensors pick the cluster-heads based on IDS. The actors are then placed at the locations of such cluster-heads. We further derive conditions to guarantee inter-actor connectivity after the clustering is performed. If inter-connectivity does not exist, the actors coordinate through the underlying sensors in their clusters to adjust their locations so that connectivity can be established. The performances of the proposed approaches are validated through simulations. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.