Optimal Patterns for Four-Connectivity and Full Coverage in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we study optimal deployment in terms of the number of sensors required to achieve four-connectivity and full coverage under different ratios of sensors' communication range (denoted by rc) to their sensing range (denoted by rs). We propose a new pattern, the Diamond pattern, which can be viewed as a series of evolving patterns. When rc/rs¿ ¿(3), the Diamond pattern coincides with the well-known triangle lattice pattern; when rc/rs¿ ¿(2), it degenerates to a Square pattern (i.e., a square grid). We prove that our proposed pattern is asymptotically optimal when rc/rs> ¿(2) to achieve four-connectivity and full coverage. We also discover another new deployment pattern called the Double-strip pattern. This pattern provides a new aspect to research on optimal deployment patterns. Our work is the first to propose an asymptotically optimal deployment pattern to achieve four-connectivity and full coverage for WSNs. Our work also provides insights on how optimal patterns evolve and how to search for them.