A Distributed Sensor Relocation Scheme for Environmental Control

We consider the problem of self-deployment and relocation in mobile wireless networks, where nodes are both sensors and actuators. We propose a unified, distributed algorithm that has the following features. During deployment, our algorithm yields a regular tessellation of the geographical area with a given node density, called monitoring configuration. Upon the occurrence of a physical phenomenon, network nodes relocate themselves so as to properly sample and control the event, while maintaining the network connectivity. Then, as soon as the event ends, all nodes return to the monitoring configuration. To achieve these goals, we use a virtual force-based strategy, which proves to be very effective even when compared to an optimal centralized solution.