Maximizing lifetime for k-barrier coverage in energy harvesting wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) can be used effectively to form barriers that monitor strips of land for applicaions such as homeland security and critical infrastructure protection. Sensors are highly constrained in their energy usage, so when they harvest energy, it is neccessary that this energy be used effectively. When WSNs are used as barriers, they are typically deployed for extended period of time, so it is of great importance that the network has a long lifetime. The lifetime problem for WSNs has been studied extensively. In this paper we give an exact solution to the problem of achieving maximum lifetime for the application of k-barrier coverage in energy harvesting wireless sensor networks.