Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exposure in Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practical Solutions

  • Published:
Wireless Networks Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Wireless ad hoc sensor networks have the potential to provide the missing interface between the physical world and the Internet, thus impacting a large number of users. This connection will enable computational treatments of the physical world in ways never before possible. In this far reaching scenario, Quality of Service can be expressed in terms of accuracy and/or latency of observing events and the overall state of the physical world. Consequently, one of the fundamental problems in sensor networks is the calculation of coverage, which can be defined as a measure of the ability to detect objects within a sensor filed. Exposure is directly related to coverage in that it is an integral measure of how well the sensor network can observe an object, moving on an arbitrary path, over a period of time. After elucidating the importance of exposure, we formally define exposure and study its properties. We have developed an efficient and effective algorithm for exposure calculations in sensor networks, specifically for finding minimal exposure paths. The minimal exposure path provides valuable information about the worst case exposure-based coverage in sensor networks. The algorithm can be applied to any given distribution of sensors, sensor and sensitivity models, and characteristics of the network. Furthermore, it provides an unbounded level of accuracy as a function of run time and storage. Finally, we provide an extensive collection of experimental results and study the scaling behavior of exposure and the proposed algorithm for its calculation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. H. Abelson et al., Amorphous computing, Communications of the ACM 43(5) (May 2000) 74–82.

    Google Scholar 

  2. A.A. Abidi, G.J. Pottie and W.J. Kaiser, Power-conscious design of wireless circuits and systems, Proceedings of the IEEE 88(10) (October 2000) 1528–1545.

    Google Scholar 

  3. F.S. Acton, Numerical Methods That Work (Mathematical Association of America, Washington, DC, 1990).

    Google Scholar 

  4. W. Adjie-Winoto, E. Schwartz, H. Balakrishnan and J. Lilley, The design and implementation of an intentional naming system, Operating Systems Review 33(5) (December 1999) 186–201.

    Google Scholar 

  5. H. Baltes, O. Paul and O. Brand, Micromachined thermally based CMOS micro-sensors, Proceedings of the IEEE 86(8) (August 1998) 1660–1678.

    Google Scholar 

  6. M.S. Braasch and A.J. Van Dierendonck, GPS receiver architectures and measurements, Proceedings of the IEEE 87(1) (January 1999) 48–64.

    Google Scholar 

  7. J. Caffery Jr. and G.L. Stuber, Subscriber location in CDMA cellular networks, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology 47(2) (May 1998) 406–416.

    Google Scholar 

  8. J. Caffery Jr. and G.L. Stuber, Nonlinear multiuser parameter estimation and tracking in CDMA systems, IEEE Transactions on Communications 48(12) (December 2000) 2053–2063.

    Google Scholar 

  9. T. Cormen, C. Leiserson and R. Rivest, Introduction to Algorithms (MIT Pres, 1990).

  10. D. Estrin, R. Govindan and J. Heidemann, Embedding the Internet: Introduction, Communications of the ACM 43 (May 2000) 38–42.

  11. S. Fisher and K. Ghassemi, GPS IIF – The next generation, Proceedings of the IEEE 87(1) (January 1999) 24–47.

    Google Scholar 

  12. J.D. Gibson, The Mobile Communications Handbook (CRC Press, Boca Raton, IEEE Press, New York, 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  13. W. Gregg, W. Esaias, G. Feldman, R. Frouin, S. Hooker, C. McClain and R. Woodward, Coverage opportunities for global ocean color in a multimission era, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 36 (September 1998) 1620–1627.

    Google Scholar 

  14. J. Haartsen and S. Mattisson, Bluetooth – A new low-power radio interface providing short-range connectivity, Proceedings of the IEEE 88(10) (October 2000) 1651–1661.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Z. Haas, On the relaying capability of the reconfigurable wireless networks, in: IEEE 47th Vehicular Technology Conference,Vol.2 (May 1997) pp. 1148–1152.

    Google Scholar 

  16. D. Kahaner, C. Moler and S. Nash, Numerical Methods and Software (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1989).

    Google Scholar 

  17. C. Kang and M. Golay, An integrated method for comprehensive sensor network developement in complex power plant systems, Reliability Engineering & System Safety 67 (January 2000) 17–27.

    Google Scholar 

  18. F. Koushanfar et al., Global error-tolerant fault-tolerant algorithms for location discovery in ad-hoc wireless networks, UCLA Technical Report, UCLA Computer Science Department (2001).

  19. J. Lansford and P. Bahl, The design and implementation of HomeRF: A radio frequency wireless networking standard for the connected home, Proceedings of the IEEE 88(10) (October 2000) 1662–1676.

    Google Scholar 

  20. K. Lieska, E. Laitinen and J. Lahteenmaki, Radio coverage optimization with genetic algorithms, in: IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications, Vol. 1 (September 1998) pp. 318–322.

    Google Scholar 

  21. K. Marzullo, Tolerating failures of continuous-valued sensors, ACM Transactions on Computer Systems 8(4) (November 1990) 284–304.

    Google Scholar 

  22. M. Marengoni, B. Draper, A. Hanson and R. Sitaraman, System to place observers on a polyhedral terrain in polynomial time, Image and Vision Computing 18 (December 1996) 773–780.

    Google Scholar 

  23. A. Mason et al., A generic multielement microsystem for portable wireless applications, Proceedings of the IEEE 86(8) (August 1998) 1733–1746.

    Google Scholar 

  24. S. Meguerdichian, F. Koushanfar, M. Potkonjak and M. Srivastava, Coverage problems in wireless ad-hoc sensor networks, in: Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM, Vol. 3 (April 2001) pp. 1380–1387.

    Google Scholar 

  25. A. Molina, G.E. Athanasiadou and A.R. Nix, The automatic location of base-stations for optimised cellular coverage: A new combinatorial approach, in: IEEE 49th Vehicular Technology Conference,Vol. 1(May 1999) pp. 606–610.

    Google Scholar 

  26. C. Nguyen, L. Katehi and G. Rebeiz, Micromachined devices for wireless communications, Proceedings of the IEEE 86(8) (August 1998) 1756–1768.

    Google Scholar 

  27. N.B. Priyantha, A. Chakraborty and H. Balakrishnan, The cricket location-support system, in: Proceedings of the Sixth Annual ACM International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking (August 2000) pp. 32–43.

  28. G.J. Pottie and W.J. Kaiser, Wireless integrated network sensors, Communications of the ACM 43(5) (May 2000) 51–58.

    Google Scholar 

  29. A. Ralston and P. Rabinowitz, in: A First Course in Numerical Analysis, 2nd ed. (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  30. S. Riter and J. MacCoy, Automatic vehicle location – An overview, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, VT26(1) (February 1977).

  31. M. Shaw, P. Levin and J. Martel, The Dod: Stewards of a global information resource, the Navstar global positioning system, Proceedings of the IEEE 87(1) (January 1999) 16–23.

    Google Scholar 

  32. A.H. Stroud, Approximate Calculation of Multiple Integrals (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1971).

    Google Scholar 

  33. D. Tennenhouse, Proactive computing, Communications of the ACM 43(5) (May 2000) 43–50.

    Google Scholar 

  34. R.A. Thisted, Elements of Statistical Computing (Chapman and Hall, New York, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

  35. G.L. Turin, W.S. Jewell and T.L. Johnston, Simulation of urban vehicle-monitoring systems, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology VT21(1) (February 1972) 9–16.

    Google Scholar 

  36. R. Want and A. Hopper, Active Badges and personal interactive computing objects, IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics 38(1) (February 1992) 10–20.

    Google Scholar 

  37. N. Yazdi, A. Mason, K. Najafi and K. Wise, A generic interface chip for capacitive sensors in low-power multi-parameter microsystems, Sensors and Actuators A (Physical) A84(3) (September 2000) 351–361.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Department, UCLA, 4532 Boelter Hall, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Seapahn Megerian, Giacomino Veltri & Miodrag Potkonjak

  2. EECS Department, UC Berkeley, 545T Cory Hall (DOP Center), Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Farinaz Koushanfar

  3. 1417 A.V. Williams, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Gang Qu

Authors
  1. Seapahn Megerian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Farinaz Koushanfar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gang Qu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Giacomino Veltri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Miodrag Potkonjak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Megerian, S., Koushanfar, F., Qu, G. et al. Exposure in Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practical Solutions. Wireless Networks 8, 443–454 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016586011473

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016586011473

Search

Navigation