On Coverage of 3D Terrains by Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

The coverage of a Region of Interest (RoI), that must be satisfied when deploying a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), depends on several factors related not only to the sensor nodes (SNs) capabilities but also to the RoI topography. This latter has been omitted by most previous deployment approaches, which assume that the RoI is 2D. However, some recent WSNs deployment approaches dropped this unrealistic assumption. This paper surveys the different models adopted by the state-of-the-art deployment approaches. The weaknesses that need to be addressed are identified and some proposals expected to enhance the practicality of these models are discussed.