Energy-efficient approaches to coverage holes detection in wireless sensor networks

A Sensor network is a sensing, computing and communication infrastructure that allows us to instrument, observe, and respond to phenomena in the physical and cyber infrastructure. As sensors are typically battery operated, it is important to efficiently use the limited energy of the nodes to extend the lifetime of the sensor network. Several anomalies can occur in wireless sensor networks that impair their desired functionalities resulting in the formation of different kinds of holes such as coverage holes, routing holes, jamming hole, and worm holes. The coverage problem is one of the fundamental issues in wireless sensor networks. In this paper, the coverage hole problem in sensor networks is rigorously analyzed. We provide distributed as well as centralized algorithms that allow the selection of the set of sensors that are on the boundary of the coverage holes in the region. Holes boundary detection is crucial for optimizing sensor placement and identifying regions of interest for the end user. Mathematical as well as experimental proofs are provided to validate the correctness and efficiency of our algorithms.