Distributed computation of coverage in sensor networks by homological methods

Recent work on algebraic-topological methods for verifying coverage in planar sensor networks relied exclusively on centralized computation: a limiting constraint for large networks. This paper presents a distributed algorithm for homology computation over a sensor network, for purposes of verifying coverage. The techniques involve reduction and coreduction of simplicial complexes, and are of independent interest. Verification of the ensuing algorithms is proved, and simulations detail the improved network efficiency and performance.