Constructing underwater sensor based barriers using distributed auctions

Technology advancement has allowed submarines to evade standard sonar detection. A viable alternative is to place magnetic or acoustic sensors in close proximity to possible underwater pathways of submarines. This approach may require deploying large-scale underwater sensor networks to form 3-dimensional barriers. We devise an energy-conserving scheme to construct 3-dimensional barriers using mobile sensors. We focus on developing an energy efficient matching of mobile sensors to cover grid points using distributed auction algorithms. Specifically, we attempt to minimize the maximum travel distance for any one sensor to reach its assigned grid point. Through simulation, we show that the distributed auction based approach can offer reduced computation time and similar maximum travel distance as compared to the optimal solution. This provides a promising new approach to constructing barriers in 3-dimensional sensor networks. We, also, demonstrate a useful extension to the traditional auction algorithm. The extension allows for a larger set of sensors to bid for fewer coverage points. This has implications for reducing the maximal moving distance and limits the impact of sensor failure.