A genetic approach for the maximum network lifetime problem with additional operating time slot constraints

The maximum network lifetime problem is a well-known and challenging optimization problem which has been addressed successfully with several approaches in the last years. It essentially consists in finding an optimal schedule for sensors activities in a wireless sensor network (WSN) aiming at maximizing the total amount of time during which the WSN is able to perform its monitoring task. In this paper, we consider a new scenario in which, in order to monitor some locations in a geographical area, the sensors need to be active for a fixed amount of time, defined as operating time slot. For this new scenario, we derive an upper bound on the maximum lifetime and propose a genetic algorithm for finding a near-optimal node activity schedule. The performance evaluation results obtained on numerous benchmark instances show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.