On perimeter coverage scheduling in wireless sensor networks

Many sensor network applications require the tracking and the surveillance of target objects. We are specifically interested in the coverage problem known as perimeter coverage that the perimeter of the whole target has to be monitored while a single sensor can only monitor a certain portion of the perimeter. In this case, several sensors are required to ensure the perimeter coverage of the target, and our main focus is to monitor the whole target object as long as possible. In this paper, we first discuss the sufficient conditions in which a linear or a polynomial time optimal solution exists. Since no known polynomial time solution exists for configurations that do not satisfy the conditions, we study the dynamic duration technique to enhance the performance of existing heuristic mechanisms.