Data Aggregation in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks consist of sensor nodes with sensing and communication capabilities. Efficient aggregation of data collected by sensors is crucial for a successful application of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Both minimizing the energy cost and reducing the time duration of data aggregation have been extensively studied for WSNs. Algorithms with theoretical performance guarantees are only known under the protocol interference model, or graph-based interference models generally. A fundamental challenge in the design of Wireless Sensor Network (WSNs) is to maximize their lifetimes. Data aggregation has emerged as a basic approach in WSNs in order to reduce the number of transmissions of sensor nodes, and hence minimizing the overall power consumption in the network.