Nicholas A. Scoville

Bio: Nicholas A. Scoville is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Distributed algorithm & Wireless sensor network. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 5 citations.

A Distributed Greedy Algorithm for Constructing Connected Dominating Sets in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract: A Connected Dominating Set (CDS) of the graph representing a Wireless Sensor Network can be used as a virtual backbone for routing in the network. Since sensor nodes are constrained by limited on-board batteries, it is desirable to have a small CDS for the network. However, constructing a minimum size CDS has been shown to be a NP-hard problem. In this paper we present a distributed greedy algorithm for constructing a CDS that we call Greedy Connect. Our algorithm operates in two phases, first constructing a dominating set and then connecting the nodes in this set. We evaluate our algorithm using simulations and compare it to the two-hop K2 algorithm in the literature. Depending on the network topology, our algorithm generally constructs a CDS that is up to 30% smaller in size than K2.

A Simple Improved Distributed Algorithm for Minimum CDS in Unit Disk Graphs

Abstract: Several routing schemes in ad hoc networks first establish a virtual backbone and then route messages via back-bone nodes. One common way of constructing such a backbone is based on the construction of a minimum connected dominating set (CDS). In this paper we present a very simple distributed algorithm for computing a small CDS. Our algorithm has an approximation factor of at most 6.91, improving upon the previous best known approximation factor of 8 due to Wan et al. [INFOCOM'02], The improvement relies on a refined analysis of the relationship between the size of a maximal independent set and a minimum CDS in a unit disk graph. This subresult also implies improved approximation factors for many existing algorithm.

On Relay Selection Approaches in Bluetooth Mesh Networks

Abstract: Bluetooth Mesh (BM) is a new communication standard, which is designed for the upcoming Internet of Things. It builds on the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol and allows devices to extend the range and create a mesh network. BM introduces a publisher/ observer structure where a publisher node can broadcast a packet, known also as an advertisement, and all observers can receive the packet. Typically, in BM networks flooding is used to propagate the advertisements. Flooding is known to suffer from broadcast storm problem and be nonreli-able. To improve packet delivery ratio we propose an approach where only a few nodes, relays, are involved in packet forwarding. Selection of the relay nodes, which is a focus of the paper, is a nontrivial task: on the one hand, a minimization of number of relays is desired, on the other hand, using a minimum dominated set would not provide redundancy. We consider three different relay selection mechanisms and develop their extensions that are capable to operate in a distributed fashion. Their performance is evaluated via extensive simulations.

Positive Influence Dominating Set generation in social networks

Abstract: Current algorithms in the Positive Influence Dominating Set (PIDS) problem domain are focused on a specific type of PIDS, the Total Positive Influence Dominating Set (TPIDS). We have developed an algorithm specifically targeted towards the non-total type of PIDS. In addition to our new algorithm, we adapted two existing TPIDS algorithms to generate PIDS. We ran simulations for all three algorithms, and our new algorithm consistently generates smaller PIDS than both existing algorithms, with our algorithm generating PIDS approximately 5% smaller than the better of the two existing algorithms.

Randomized algorithms for approximating a Connected Dominating Set in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract: A Connected Dominating Set (CDS) of a graph representing a Wireless Sensor Network can be used as a virtual backbone for routing through the network. Since the sensors in the network are constrained by limited battery life, we desire a minimal CDS for the network, a known NP-hard problem. In this paper we present three randomized algorithms for constructing a CDS. We evaluate our algorithms using simulations and compare them to the two-hop K2 algorithm and two other greedy algorithms from the literature. After pruning, the randomized algorithms construct a CDS that are generally equivalent in size to those constructed by K2 while being asymptotically better in time and message complexity. This shows the potential of significant energy savings in using a randomized approach as a result of the reduced complexity.