Camera selection without location information: A topological approach

One of the main goals in camera networks is to achieve maximal coverage with the least number of sensors considering the direction of the field of view of the cameras and their neighborhood information. Conventional solutions to this problem are not applicable to scenarios where GPS modules are not available and there is no reliable location information on cameras. Recently, location-oblivious coverage in sensor networks has been modeled successfully based on the notion of homology in algebraic topology. In order to relax the location information assumption, we accordingly take on a homology-based approach for proposing two area coverage algorithms. The adoption of a homological perspective to the camera selection problem in camera networks has no precedence and is introduced for the first time in this article. In the first algorithm, each camera determines its activity status for participation in the coverage task. In the second algorithm, the active cameras are selected based on the Laplacian flow of the simplicial complex of the network. We evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms by conducting simulation experiments. The obtained results reveal that the proposed algorithms are near-optimal.