Optimal Coverage in Wireless Sensor Networks

Coverage as an Optimization Problem 📡

In wireless sensor networks, two questions sit at the centre of nearly every design: can the network sense what it needs to sense, and can it keep doing so long enough to matter? This monograph treats coverage not as an isolated engineering detail but as a rich family of optimization problems. Written by Weili Wu, Zhao Zhang, Wonjun Lee, and Ding-Zhu Du, it belongs to the Springer Optimization and Its Applications series and presents the theoretical state of the art in optimal sensor coverage.

What the Book Covers

The material is organised into three broad parts. The first, Chapters 1–8, concentrates on classical optimal coverage problems: minimum sensor cover, minimum connected cover, maximum lifetime coverage, weighted sensor cover, and related connected-coverage questions. The second part, Chapters 9–12, moves into different coverage types, including grid-based deployment and barrier coverage. The third part, Chapters 13–17, studies coverage under different sensor models, such as heterogeneous sensors and power-aware coverage.

Algorithms, Proofs, and Approximation Guarantees 💻

Readers encounter a range of algorithmic tools and theoretical frameworks: planar expansion theorems, network Steiner tree formulations, LP relaxation, the Garg–Könemann method, the Calinescu framework, double partition, jigsaw puzzle techniques, and the magic transformation. These are not presented as recipes alone; the book develops the approximation ratios and performance guarantees that make the methods meaningful in research settings.

Who Will Find It Useful

The preface notes that much of the content has served as teaching material for an advanced graduate course in computer science at the University of Texas at Dallas and for graduate summer schools in China. That origin shapes the book’s audience: graduate students, researchers, and professionals working in wireless networking, combinatorial optimization, algorithm design, and distributed systems. It is a reference for the theoretical side of sensor coverage rather than a hands-on hardware guide.

A Focused Reference for WSN Researchers

If your work involves sensor deployment, network lifetime, connected coverage, or approximation algorithms, this volume offers a concentrated look at the optimisation problems that define the field. It is the kind of book to keep nearby when you need a clear statement of a coverage problem, its algorithmic approaches, and the guarantees that come with them.