M-Connected Coverage Problem in Wireless Sensor Networks

Solving coverage problem alone is not adequate in a wireless sensor network, since data has to be transmitted to the base station. This leads to the lookout for an energy efficient method to solve connected coverage problem. This paper addresses M-connected (each sensor node will have at least M other sensor nodes within its communication range) target coverage problem in wireless sensor networks, where the required level of connectivity and coverage may be high or low as required. We propose a heuristic for M-connected target coverage problem, where initially a cover is decided and later on it is checked for M-connectivity. M-connectivity for simple coverage, k-coverage, and Q-coverage is focussed on in this paper. We use a Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) inspired model, where a cluster is considered as a set of sensor nodes satisfying M-connectivity and required level of coverage. It is enough if one among these nodes transmits the monitored information to the base station. When the required level of coverage are high, chances of nodes being connected in the cover is high. Simulation results show that our proposed method can achieve better results than Communication Weighted Greedy Cover (CWGC).