A Method for Maximum Coverage of the Territory by Sensors with Minimization of Cost and Assessment of Survivability

Abstract

In the modern technological world, there are several key factors in the construction of sensor networks. These include maximizing the coverage and minimizing the cost of the network. Like any information system, the sensor network must also meet the conditions of survivability. This is why the development of a method for assessing the survivability of the sensor network is also a key factor. The purpose of this study is to develop a method to establish the maximum coverage of the territory of the sensor network at minimum cost with the ability to assess the survivability of the network. Coverage maximization while minimizing the network’s cost is achieved by finding the optimal pair of values of the coverage radius and the level of the intersection of coverage areas. These values are found by solving a nonlinear multicriteria optimization problem with the use of the genetic algorithm. The designed method for estimating the survivability of sensor networks takes into account not only the importance of network components but also the bandwidth of the network elements. The result of using the proposed methods is a set of Pareto optimal pairs of values of the radii of coverage and the value of the intersection of the coverage areas. In the case of network survivability assessment, the result, in addition to the percentage assessment, is a set of vulnerable sensors and network communication channels. The proposed network survivability estimation method improved the estimation accuracy by 18% compared to methods used in previous works.