Analysis of Concise "Average Load" Definitions in Uniformly Random Deployed Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

A key issue in studying the performance of wireless sensor networks is the study of load and, depending on the case, different definitions can be found in the literature. These definitions may vary significantly and they may not allow for further investigation of particular aspects of the network's behavior, thus impending the researcher's work. The purpose of this paper is to lift any ambiguities with respect to widely used load definitions, analyze their properties and provide for a new perspective to study wireless sensor networks' performance, particularly for the case of uniform random node deployment. First, definitions regarding the node load, the average area load and the average point load, the most widely used cases considered in the literature, are presented. Subsequently, the relation among these definitions is analytically investigated, resulting in an analytical expression between the average area load and the average load of the points within this area. As it is concluded, average load can be seen as a property of every single point, even if that point is not occupied by a sensor, which introduces a different way to tackle average load problems in wireless sensor network environments.