A Localized Self-Healing Algorithm for Networks of Moveable Sensor Nodes

The effectiveness of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) deployed in search and rescue, battlefield reconnaissance, surveillance, and other applications depends on inter-node interaction and maintaining network connectivity. While connectivity can be provisioned at startup, then sustained through careful coordination when nodes move, the network can be partitioned if a node suddenly fails. This paper presents Recovery through Inward Motion (RIM), a distributed algorithm to efficiently restore network connectivity after a node failure. Instead of performing a network-wide analysis to assess the impact of the node failure and set a course of action, RIM triggers a local recovery process by relocating the neighbors of the lost node. RIM minimizes messaging overhead and reduces the distance that individual nodes travel during the recovery. Simulations validate RIM's performance.