A queueing approach to optimal resource replication in wireless sensor networks

We develop a queueing model for analyzing resource replication strategies in wireless sensor networks. The model can be used to minimize either the total transmission rate of the network (an energy-centric approach) or to ensure the proportion of query failures does not exceed a predetermined threshold (a failure-centric approach). The model explicitly considers the limited availability of network resources, as well as the frequency of resource requests and query deadlines, to determine the optimal replication strategy for a network resource. While insufficient resource replication increases query failures and transmission rates, replication levels beyond the optimum result in only marginal decreases in the proportion of query failures at a cost of higher total energy expenditure and network traffic.