Optimal Network Design for Efficient Energy Utilization in Wireless Sensor Networks

Problem statement: This research presents a study of the optimal network design for efficient energy utilization in continuous data-gathering Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). We first examine the problem of minimizing the network cost through the minimum number of relay-station installation. Then we further investigate the problem of minimizing the energy consumption of the sensor nodes. Approach: We model the network design problem as an integer linear programming. Our key contribution is that the proposed models not only guarantee the network lifetime but also ensure the radio communication between the energy-limited sensor nodes so that the network can guarantee packet delivery from sensor nodes to the base station. Results: Numerical experiments were conducted to evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods in various network scenarios. Conclusion: The results demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed methods to design WSNs with more efficient energy utilization compared with other methods in term of total energy consumption and average energy consumption of SNs in the networks.