Placing Multiple Sinks in Time-Sensitive Wireless Sensor Networks Using a Genetic Algorithm

Performance issues in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) play a vital role in many applications. Often the maximum allowable message transfer delay must be bounded in order to enable time-sensitive applications of WSNs like fire or intrusion detection systems. Hence, it is crucial to develop algorithms that minimize the worst-case delay in WSNs. In this paper, the authors focus on the problem of placing multiple sinks such that the maximum worst-case delay is minimized while keeping the energy consumption as low as possible. For that purpose they develop an algorithm based on the Genetic Algorithm (GA) paradigm. To model and consequently control the worst-case delay of a given WSN they build upon the so-called sensor network calculus.