Optimizing coverage in a k-covered and connected sensor network using genetic algorithms

Sensing coverage of a sensor network characterizes how well an area is monitored or tracked by sensors. Connectivity is an important requirement that shows how nodes in a sensor network can effectively communicate. Some hotspot areas in the network are more important than other areas and need to be covered by more sensors. We are interested in an initial deployment strategy that maximizes the coverage area of wireless sensor network while preserving connectivity between nodes provided that all given hotspot regions are covered by at least k sensors. We propose a genetic algorithm based solution to find an optimal sensor node distribution. Experimental results are presented to evaluate our algorithm.