Topology Reduction At The Physical Layer For Wireless Sensor Networks

Communication comprises the most power consuming operation that a sensor node performs. In this work we present a topology reduction algorithm and perform pre-deployment simulations of a senor network and analyze the initial topology for possibility of links reduction. The alternative link-reduced topologies are analyzed and compared against the initial topology regarding the overall number of links in the network, the number of neighbors and the possibility for transmission power reduction. Furthermore, a calculative estimation of the power consumption and respective node lifetime, from a communication perspective, is provided.