-\item In Chapter 5, we devise a framework to schedule nodes to be activated alternatively such
- that the network lifetime is prolonged while ensuring that a certain level of
- coverage is preserved. A key idea in our framework is to exploit spatial an
- temporal subdivision. On the one hand the area of interest if divided into
- several smaller subregions and on the other hand the time line is divided into
- periods of equal length. In each subregion the sensor nodes will cooperatively
- choose a leader which will schedule nodes' activities, and this grouping of
- sensors is similar to typical cluster architecture. We propose a new mathematical optimization model. Instead of trying to cover a set of specified points/targets as in most of the methods proposed in the literature, we formulate an integer program based on perimeter coverage of each sensor. The model involves integer variables to capture the deviations between the actual level of coverage and the required level. So that an
- optimal scheduling will be obtained by minimizing a weighted sum of these deviations.
+ \item We design a protocol that focuses on the area coverage problem with the objective of maximizing the network lifetime. Our proposition, the Distributed Lifetime Coverage Optimization (DILCO) protocol, maintains the coverage and improves the lifetime in WSNs. DILCO protocol presented in chapter 4 is an extension of our approach introduced in \cite{ref159}. In \cite{ref159}, the protocol is deployed over only two subregions. In DILCO protocol, the area of interest is first divided into subregions using a divide-and-conquer algorithm and an activity scheduling for sensor nodes is then planned by the elected leader in each subregion. In fact, the nodes in a subregion can be seen as a cluster where each node sends sensing data to the cluster head or the sink node. Furthermore, the activities in a subregion/cluster can continue even if another cluster stops due to too many node failures. DiLCO protocol considers periods, where a period starts with a discovery phase to exchange information between sensors of the same subregion, in order to choose in a suitable manner a sensor node (the leader) to carry out the coverage strategy. In each subregion, the activation of the sensors for the sensing phase of the current period is obtained by solving an integer program. The resulting activation vector is broadcast by a leader to every node of its subregion.