An Enhanced Coverage Control Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) of limited power need to utilize reasonable coverage control protocol to reduce overall energy consumption by turning off redundant sensors while maintaining the required coverage quality. However, the two most well-known off-duty eligibility rules of coverage control protocols (Ottawa and CCP) are either unnecessary or insufficient conditions which consequently lead to redundant sensors or blind points. In this paper we propose a necessary and sufficient off-duty eligibility rule which can guarantee no blind points incurred while maintaining the number of on-duty nodes to a minimum. Based on this rule, a novel coverage control protocol denoted as Enhanced Coverage Control Protocol (ECCP) is presented. Simulation results demonstrate that ECCP can conserve the network´s energy with less on-duty sensors than Ottawa, and preserve the coverage quality more accurate than CCP. Therefore, ECCP is an efficient and reliable coverage control protocol with no redundant sensors and blind points.