Maximizing sensor network lifetime: analysis and design guidelines

Network lifetime is an important metric for battery operated sensor networks. In this paper, we study the lifetime of a general sensor network with n randomly deployed sensors communicating with a base station (BS). We show how the lifetime of such sensor networks is influenced by transmission schemes, network density and transceiver parameters with different constraints on network mobility, position awareness and maximum transmission range. Our results offer insight into the network deployment and protocol design that optimize the network lifetime.