Distributed Joint Resource and Routing Optimization in Wireless Sensor Networks via Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers

We consider a distributed total transmit power minimization in a multi-hop single-sink data gathering wireless sensor network by jointly optimizing the resource allocation and the routing with given source rates. An inherent coupling in optimal routing and resource allocation is taken into account via cross-layer optimization to increase the energy efficiency of the network. Instead of distributing the solution process horizontally by commonly used dual decomposition, we apply consensus optimization in conjunction with the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). By duplicating flow variables, the problem decomposes into node specific subproblems with local variables. These variables are iteratively driven into consensus via the ADMM. Numerical examples show that the proposed algorithm converges significantly faster as compared to the state of the art methods based on the dual decomposition. Additionally, the algorithm is appealing for practical implementation due to its low local communication overhead, robust operation in slightly changing channel conditions and scalability to large networks.