Topology Control in Wireless Sensor Networks

The main goal of topology control in wireless sensor networks is to reduce interference between competing signals and thus extend the battery life of sensor devices by minimizing retransmission of data. This paper proposes an algorithm, low bounded interference control, to minimize the lower and upper bounds on interference. The lower bound refers to the degree of any node, while the upper bound consists of both degree as well as the size of the critical node set. The critical node set of a node u consists of those nodes that are not its immediate neighbors but can cause interference at node u because u is within their transmission range. Our algorithm uses a robust model for interference measurement, and works well in situations where there is high interference on a node due to its immediate and critical node set. By analyzing the two-dimensional node distribution we show how our algorithm guarantees the construction of a connectivity-preserving topology with minimal interference in polynomial time.