On redundancy identification in randomly deployed WSNs, another perspective

Redundancy in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is often considered a positive development to ensure message reinforcement, increased network reliability and fault-tolerance, among many other quality of service (QoS) concerns. In certain applications of WSNs however, the negative impact of redundancy on the network could outweigh the aforementioned positive considerations. Random deployment of sensors inevitably leads to the occurrences of redundancy in the network with serious consequences (e.g., network congestion and energy wastage). In order to address the challenges posed by redundant nodes on the network, it is of prime importance to first of all, identify the redundant nodes from the network. In this paper, the concept of redundancy in wireless sensor networks and its identification are examined. Specifically, we employed the use of a modified version of Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) algorithm to identify physically redundant nodes in a randomly deployed wireless sensor network. Simulation results reveal a proportional relationship between redundant nodes and the number of nodes required to keep the network functional. This relationship is equally maintained as the network's lifespan advances (i.e., some nodes begin to die out). © 2013 IEEE