On the use of multiple sinks to extend the lifetime in connected wireless sensor networks

This paper addresses the maximum network lifetime problem in wireless sensor networks. In this problem, the purpose is to schedule a set of wireless sensors, keeping them connected and guaranteeing that all targets are covered, while network lifetime is maximized. Two variants of this problem are considered; in the first case it is assumed that a single sink (base station) is available, the second case considers the presence of several sinks. To solve the problem, a hybrid Column Generation-GRASP heuristic is proposed. The method is shown to be able to find optimal or near optimal solutions efficiently in both cases.