Optimal Base Station Mobility Patterns for Wireless Sensor Network Lifetime Maximization

Maximization of network lifetime through the efficient utilization of energy is one of the main objectives in wireless sensor network (WSN) design. Although energy balancing throughout the network for relaying the data traffic generated by sensor nodes toward a static base station prolongs network lifetime, some of the nodes are required to dissipate their energies suboptimally, i.e., farther nodes transmit some of their data to extended distances so that nodes closer to the base station are not overburdened. Base station mobility is proposed as a remedy for countering the suboptimal energy dissipation trends in WSNs. As the base station relocates, the burden of relaying the data coming from all nodes can be shared by a larger set of nodes, and hence, suboptimal energy dissipation can be mitigated. In order to take advantage of base station mobility for prolonging WSN lifetime, determining the optimal mobility patterns is of utmost importance. In this paper, we built a mixed integer programming framework to characterize the impact of various mobility patterns on WSN lifetime. Our results reveal that optimal Gaussian and spiral mobility patterns give the highest network lifetime values throughout the parameter space we explored.