Distributed coverage verification in sensor networks without location information
Penn collection
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
graph theory
optimisation
Rips complex
computational homology
distributed coverage verification
localization devices
location information
optimization problem
proximity graph
sensor networks
simplicial complexes
sparsest generator
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Contributor
Abstract
In this paper, we present a distributed algorithm for detecting coverage holes in a sensor network with no location information. We demonstrate how, in the absence of localization devices, simplicial complexes and tools from computational homology can be used in providing valuable information on the properties of the cover. In particular, we capture the combinatorial relationships among the sensors by the means of the Rips complex, which is the generalization of the proximity graph of the network to higher dimensions. Our approach is based on computation of a certain generator of the first homology of the Rips complex of the network. We formulate the problem of localizing coverage holes as an optimization problem to compute the sparsest generator of the first homology classes. We also demonstrate how subgradient methods can be used in solving this optimization problem in a distributed manner. Finally, non-trivial simulations are provided that illustrate the performance of our algorithm.