# Coverage Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks: Review and Future Directions

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1901.00511 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.00511/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 2 Jan 2019.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [StarCraftImage: A Dataset For Prototyping Spatial Reasoning Methods For Multi-Agent Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.04290/) (2024)
- [Description of Structural Biases and Associated Data in Sensor-Rich Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.04885/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The coverage problem in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) can be generally defined as a measure of how effectively a network field is monitored by its sensor nodes. This problem has attracted a lot of interest over the years and as a result, many coverage protocols were proposed. In this survey, we first propose a taxonomy for classifying coverage protocols in WSNs. Then, we classify the coverage protocols into three categories (i.e. coverage aware deployment protocols, sleep scheduling protocols for flat networks, and cluster-based sleep scheduling protocols) based on the network stage where the coverage is optimized. For each category, relevant protocols are thoroughly reviewed and classified based on the adopted coverage techniques. Finally, we discuss open issues (and recommend future directions to resolve them) associated with the design of realistic coverage protocols. Issues such as realistic sensing models, realistic energy consumption models, realistic connectivity models and sensor localization are covered.