The full coverage model, where every point in the deployment region must be covered by at least one sensor, is pervasive in the wireless sensor network community. For applications that involve tracking movements at large scale such as tracking of thieves and robbers fleeing with stolen objects, tracking of animals in forests, and tracking the spread of forest fire, using the full coverage model makes sensor deployment prohibitively expensive. No sound model currently exists that can be used for systematic deployment of such large scale applications.
This project proposes a novel model of coverage called Trap Coverage that can be used for systematic deployment of sparse sensor networks, while ensuring frequent tracking of movements of interest. Most existing theoretical and systems work are not applicable to this new model because of the inherent sparsity of the network implied by the trap coverage model. The overall goal of this project is to establish a strong foundation for all large scale movement tracking applications and address the key systems issues faced in such applications. The project applies rigorous mathematical analysis, experimentation on a large scale sensor network testbed, and real-life deployment of a campus-wide object tracking system called AutoWitness to design, develop, and evaluate the algorithms and protocols developed in this project. In addition to providing hands-on research experience to undergraduate and graduate students in building a real wireless sensor network, the AutoWitness system is expected to help reduce property thefts in a university campus.
