A Novel Hybrid Optimization Scheme on Connectivity Restoration Processes for Large Scale Industrial Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks

Abstract

In the wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) of industrial field monitoring, maintaining network connectivity with coverage perception plays a decisive role in many industrial process scenarios. The mobile actuator node is responsible for collecting data from the sensing nodes and performing diverse specific collaborative operation tasks. However, the failure of the nodes usually causes coverage vulnerability and partition of the network. Urgent and time-sensitive applications expect a minimum coverage loss to complete an instant connectivity restoration. This paper presents a hybrid coverage perception-based connectivity restoration algorithm, which is designed to restore network connectivity with minimal coverage area loss. The algorithm uses a backup node, which is selected nearby the critical node, to ensure a timely restoration when the critical node encounters failure. In the process of backup node migration, the optimal destination will be reselected to maintain the best network coverage after network connectivity recovery. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm was verified by some simulation experiments.