Optimal base station placement in wireless sensor networks

Base station location has a significant impact on network lifetime performance for a sensor network. For a multihop sensor network, this problem is particularly challenging due to its coupling with data routing. This article presents an approximation algorithm that can guarantee (1 − ε)-optimal network lifetime performance for base station placement problem with any desired error bound ε> 0. The proposed (1 − ε)-optimal approximation algorithm is based on several novel techniques that makes it possible to reduce an infinite search space to a finite-element search space for base station location. The first technique used in this reduction is to discretize cost parameter (associated with energy consumption) with performance guarantee. Subsequently, the continuous search space can be broken up into a finite number of subareas. The second technique is to exploit the cost property of each subarea and represent it by a novel notion called fictitious cost point, each with guaranteed cost bounds. We give a proof that the proposed base station placement algorithm is (1−ε)-optimal. This approximation algorithm is simpler and faster than a state-of-the-art algorith