A Coverage Hole Patching Algorithm for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

The improvement of coverage is a critical issue in the coverage hole patching of sensors. Traditionally, VOPR and VORCP algorithms improve the coverage of the detection area by improving the original VOR algorithm, but coverage hole patching algorithms only target homogeneous networks. In the real world, however, the nodes in the wireless sensor network (WSN) are often heterogeneous, i.e., the sensors have different sensing radii. The VORPH algorithm uses the VOR in a hybrid heterogeneous network and improves the original algorithm. The patched nodes are better utilized, and the detection range is enlarged. However, the utilization rate of the patched nodes is not optimized, making it impossible to patch the coverage holes to the maximum degree. In the environment of hybrid heterogeneous WSN, we propose a coverage hole patching algorithm with a priority mechanism. The algorithm determines the patching priority based on the size of the coverage holes, thereby improving network coverage, reducing node redundancy, and balancing resource allocation. The proposed algorithm was compared under the same environment by simulation and analysis. The results show that our algorithm is superior to the traditional coverage hole patching algorithms in coverage rate, and can reduce node redundancy.