Sensor networks, which consist of sensor nodes each capable of sensing environment and transmitting data, have lots of applications in battlefield surveillance, environmental monitoring, industrial diagnostics, etc. Coverage which is one of the most important performance metrics for sensor networks reflects how well a sensor field is monitored. Individual sensor coverage models are dependent on the sensing functions of different types of sensors, while network-wide sensing coverage is a collective performance measure for geographically distributed sensor nodes. This article surveys research progress made to address various coverage problems in sensor networks. We first provide discussions on sensor coverage models and design issues. The coverage problems in sensor networks can be classified into three categories according to the subject to be covered. We state the basic coverage problems in each category, and review representative solution approaches in the literature. We also provide comments and discussions on some extensions and variants of these basic coverage problems.

Coverage problems in sensor networks: A survey

We consider a general multiple-antenna network with multiple sources, multiple destinations, and multiple relays in terms of the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff (DMT). We examine several subcases of this most general problem taking into account the processing capability of the relays (half-duplex or full-duplex), and the network geometry (clustered or nonclustered). We first study the multiple-antenna relay channel with a full-duplex relay to understand the effect of increased degrees of freedom in the direct link. We find DMT upper bounds and investigate the achievable performance of decode-and-forward (DF), and compress-and-forward (CF) protocols. Our results suggest that while DF is DMT optimal when all terminals have one antenna each, it may not maintain its good performance when the degrees of freedom in the direct link are increased, whereas CF continues to perform optimally. We also study the multiple-antenna relay channel with a half-duplex relay. We show that the half-duplex DMT behavior can significantly be different from the full-duplex case. We find that CF is DMT optimal for half-duplex relaying as well, and is the first protocol known to achieve the half-duplex relay DMT. We next study the multiple-access relay channel (MARC) DMT. Finally, we investigate a system with a single source-destination pair and multiple relays, each node with a single antenna, and show that even under the ideal assumption of full-duplex relays and a clustered network, this virtual multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system can never fully mimic a real MIMO DMT. For cooperative systems with multiple sources and multiple destinations the same limitation remains in effect.

Multiple-Antenna Cooperative Wireless Systems: A Diversity–Multiplexing Tradeoff Perspective

The coverage optimization problem has been examined thoroughly for omni-directional sensor networks in the past decades. However, the coverage problem in directional sensor networks (DSN) has newly taken attraction, especially with the increasing number of wireless multimedia sensor network (WMSN) applications. Directional sensor nodes equipped with ultrasound, infrared, and video sensors differ from traditional omni-directional sensor nodes with their unique characteristics, such as angle of view, working direction, and line of sight (LoS) properties. Therefore, DSN applications require specific solutions and techniques for coverage enhancement. In this survey article, we mainly aim at categorizing available coverage optimization solutions and survey their problem definitions, assumptions, contributions, complexities and performance results. We categorize available studies about coverage enhancement into four categories. Target-based coverage enhancement, area-based coverage enhancement, coverage enhancement with guaranteed connectivity, and network lifetime prolonging. We define sensing models, design issues and challenges for directional sensor networks and describe their (dis)similarities to omni-directional sensor networks. We also give some information on the physical capabilities of directional sensors available on the market. Moreover, we specify the (dis)advantages of motility and mobility in terms of the coverage and network lifetime of DSNs.

On coverage issues in directional sensor networks: A survey

Understand the fundamentals of wireless and MIMO communication with this accessible and comprehensive text. Viewing the subject through an information theory lens, but also drawing on other perspectives, it provides a sound treatment of the key concepts underpinning contemporary wireless communication and MIMO, all the way to massive MIMO. Authoritative and insightful, it includes over 330 worked examples and 450 homework problems, with solutions and MATLAB code and data available online. Altogether, this is an excellent resource for instructors and graduate students, as well as an outstanding reference for researchers and practicing engineers.

Foundations of MIMO Communication

This paper identifies the first general, explicit, and nonrandom MIMO encoder-decoder structures that guarantee optimality with respect to the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff (DMT), without employing a computationally expensive maximum-likelihood (ML) receiver. Specifically, the work establishes the DMT optimality of a class of regularized lattice decoders, and more importantly the DMT optimality of their lattice-reduction (LR)-aided linear counterparts. The results hold for all channel statistics, for all channel dimensions, and most interestingly, irrespective of the particular lattice-code applied. As a special case, it is established that the LLL-based LR-aided linear implementation of the MMSE-GDFE lattice decoder facilitates DMT optimal decoding of any lattice code at a worst-case complexity that grows at most linearly in the data rate. This represents a fundamental reduction in the decoding complexity when compared to ML decoding whose complexity is generally exponential in the rate. The results' generality lends them applicable to a plethora of pertinent communication scenarios such as quasi-static MIMO, MIMO-OFDM, ISI, cooperative-relaying, and MIMO-ARQ channels, in all of which the DMT optimality of the LR-aided linear decoder is guaranteed. The adopted approach yields insight, and motivates further study, into joint transceiver designs with an improved SNR gap to ML decoding.

/pdf/dmt-optimality-of-lr-aided-linear-decoders-for-a-general-2hfas138kj.pdf

DMT Optimality of LR-Aided Linear Decoders for a General Class of Channels, Lattice Designs, and System Models

The optimal tradeoff between diversity gain and multiplexing gain for multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) channels has been studied recently under the independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) Rayleigh-fading assumption. In this correspondence, this result is extended and the optimal tradeoff performance is derived for generalized fading channel conditions, including different fading types, nonidentical fading distributions, spatial correlation, and nonzero channel means. Our results include many known models as special cases and shed light on the effects of different channel parameters on the optimal tradeoff performance

Diversity and Multiplexing Tradeoff in General Fading Channels

We present a maximum likelihood (ML) method for semi-blind estimation of single-input multi-output (SIMO) flat-fading channels in spatially correlated noise having unknown covariance. An expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is utilized to compute the ML estimates of the channel and spatial noise covariance. We derive the Crame/spl acute/r-Rao bound (CRB) matrix for the unknown parameters and present a symbol detector that utilizes the EM channel estimates. Numerical simulations demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.

https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=ece_pubs

Semi-blind SIMO flat-fading channel estimation in unknown spatially correlated noise using the EM algorithm

In this paper, we study the fundamental limits of a wireless sensor network's lifetime under connectivity and k-coverage constraints. We consider a wireless sensor network with n sensors deployed independently and uniformly in a square field of unit area. Each sensor is active with probability p, independently from others, and each active sensor can sense a disc area with radius rs. Moreover, considering the inherent irregularity of a sensor's sensing range caused by time-varying environments, we model the sensing radius rs as a random variable with mean r0 and variance r$_{\rm 0}^{\rm 2}$σ$_{s}^{\rm 2}$. Two active sensors can communicate with each other if and only if the distance between them is smaller than or equal to the communication radius rc.

The key contributions of this paper are: (1) we introduce a new definition of a wireless sensor network's lifetime from a novel probabilistic perspective, called ω-lifetime (0 ≤ ω ≤ 1). It is defined as the expectation of the time interval during which the probability of guaranteeing connectivity and k-coverage simultaneously is at least ω; and (2) based on the analysis results, we propose a near-optimal scheduling algorithm, called PIS (Pre-planned Independent Sleeping), to achieve the network's maximum ω-lifetime, which is validated by simulation results, and present a possible implementation of the PIS scheme in the distributed manner.

/pdf/lifetime-maximization-of-sensor-networks-under-connectivity-2dg8ffxoow.pdf

Lifetime maximization of sensor networks under connectivity and k -coverage constraints

The optimal tradeoff between diversity gain and multiplexing gain for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels has been studied recently under the independently identically distributed (i.i.d) Rayleigh fading assumption. In this paper, we extend the results and derive the optimal tradeoff performance for a general fading channel setup with generic probability density functions for channel coefficients, which includes many known models as special cases. The effects of non-identical distribution, correlation and non-zero channel means are also treated.

https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=20071&context=rtd

In this paper, we study the fundamental limits of a wireless sensor network's lifetime under connectivity and k-coverage constraints. We consider a wireless sensor network with n sensors deployed independently and uniformly in a square field of unit area. Each sensor is active with probability p, independently from others, and each active sensor can sense a disc area with radius r s . Moreover, considering the inherent irregularity of a sensor's sensing range caused by time-varying environments, we model the sensing radius r s as a random variable with mean r 0 and variance r 2 0 σ 2 s . Two active sensors can communicate with each other if and only if the distance between them is smaller than or equal to the communication radius r c . The key contributions of this paper are: (1) we introduce a new definition of a wireless sensor network's lifetime from a novel probabilistic perspective, called ω-lifetime (0 < ω < 1). It is defined as the expectation of the time interval during which the probability of guaranteeing connectivity and k-coverage simultaneously is at least w; and (2) based on the analysis results, we propose a near-optimal scheduling algorithm, called PIS (Pre-planned Independent Sleeping), to achieve the network's maximum ω-lifetime, which is validated by simulation results, and present a possible implementation of the PIS scheme in the distributed manner.

Wei Mo

Papers

Diversity and Multiplexing Tradeoff in General Fading Channels

Semi-blind SIMO flat-fading channel estimation in unknown spatially correlated noise using the EM algorithm

Lifetime maximization of sensor networks under connectivity and k -coverage constraints

Diversity and Multiplexing Tradeoff in General Fading Channels

Lifetime maximization of sensor networks under connectivity and k-coverage constraints