An information theoretic approach for determining the minimum number of sensors in a wireless sensor network

We bridge a gap between Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) research and information theory research by utilizing information theoretic measures as top-level design metrics for WSNs. In particular, we use source coding theorems from information theory to determine a loose bound on the minimum number of sensors that must successfully report their measurements in order for the WSN to accurately estimate the features of some phenomenon. Although application of the information theoretic techniques is straightforward and this WSN problem has been well studied, to our knowledge this is the first time that these tools have been applied to the problem in a general setting.

[1]  Miodrag Potkonjak,et al.  Exposure in Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practical Solutions , 2002, Wirel. Networks.

[2]  M. Hefeeda,et al.  Probabilistic Coverage in Wireless Sensor Networks , 2007 .

[3]  Donald F. Towsley,et al.  A study of the coverage of large-scale sensor networks , 2004, 2004 IEEE International Conference on Mobile Ad-hoc and Sensor Systems (IEEE Cat. No.04EX975).

[4]  Yu-Chee Tseng,et al.  A Survey of Solutions for the Coverage Problems in Wireless Sensor Networks , 2005 .

[5]  Benedito J. B. Fonseca,et al.  On the Use of Mutual Information to Compare the Performance of Wireless Sensor Networks in Detection Applications , 2008, 2008 International Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (ipsn 2008).

[6]  T. Cover,et al.  Rate Distortion Theory , 2001 .

[7]  Wei Wang,et al.  Information Coverage in Randomly Deployed Wireless Sensor Networks , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[8]  R. Gray.  Entropy and Information Theory , 1990, Springer New York.

[9]  Michael Gastpar,et al.  Power, spatio-temporal bandwidth, and distortion in large sensor networks , 2005, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[10]  W. Rudin.  Principles of mathematical analysis , 1964 .

[11]  George F. Riley,et al.  The collection channel in a Wireless Sensor Network , 2010, 2010 IEEE Information Theory Workshop.