Energy Efficiency in Wireless Sensor Networks: A Game-Theoretic Approach Based on Coalition Formation

A coalitional game theoretic scheme is proposed that aims at maximizing wireless sensor network lifetime under specified QoS. Employing a small number of nodes of increased computing power and lifetime called representatives, an adaptive clustering scheme is proposed where neighboring nodes form coalitions in order to increase energy efficiency at the cost of controllable data-accuracy reduction. The coalition formation is globally optimized by the representatives. The spatial correlation of the sensed phenomenon measurements is exploited to formulate a cooperation scheme that reduces drastically the number of node transmissions. The specifications regarding the accuracy of the collected data determine the extent of coalition formation. The efficiency and stability of the proposed coalitional scheme are studied through simulations.