Title: Investigating upper bounds on lifetime for target tracking sensor networks

Authors: Peng Zeng, Chuanzhi Zang, Haibin Yu

Addresses: Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 114, Nantan St., Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, PR China. ' Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 114, Nantan St., Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, PR China. ' Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 114, Nantan St., Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, PR China

Abstract: The distinctive characteristic of target tracking sensor networks is that the delay of data transmission is constrained, which poses a difficult problem for predicting the application lifetime for such sensor networks. In this paper, we first map the delay constraints to the hop bound in routing. By analysing the energy consumption in recurring bounded hop routing, we establish the relationship between individual sensors and the whole sensor network. On the basis of this relationship, we propose a novel model to formally define the lifetime of target tracking sensor networks. The model not only implies the best routing strategy, but also exposes the dependence of lifetime on factors such as hop bound, radio transmission range, sensing range and target behaviour. Finally, we present the results of extensive simulation to investigate the influence of some adjustable parameters in engineering on the lifetime.

Keywords: wireless sensor networks; WSNs; wireless networks; target tracking; lifetime; routing; delay constraints; energy consumption; hop bound; radio transmission range; sensing range; target behaviour.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSNET.2008.022111

International Journal of Sensor Networks, 2008 Vol.4 No.3, pp.185 - 193

Published online: 18 Dec 2008 *

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