A spatial fluid-based framework to analyze large-scale wireless sensor networks

The behavior of large-scale wireless sensor networks has been shown to be surprisingly complex and difficult to analyze, both by empirical experiment and simulation. In this paper we develop a new analytical model of the behavior of wireless sensor networks, based on a fluid approach, i.e., we represent the sensor network by a continuous fluid entity distributed on the network area. The model accounts for node energy consumption, channel contention, as well as traffic routing; thus, it is well suited for describing the properties of sensor networks and understanding their complex behavior.

1. Introduction

Wireless sensor networks consist of hundreds to thousands of sensor nodes with limited computational and energy resources. Sensors are densely deployed over an area of interest, where they gather and disseminate local data using multihop communications, i.e., using other nodes as relays. A typical network configuration includes a large collection of stationary sensors operating in an unattended mode, which need to send their data to a node collecting the network information, the so-called sink node.