An energy-efficient scheme in next-generation sensor networks.

A next-generation network (NGN) is an advanced network that exploits multiple broadband and QoS-enabled transport technologies to provide telecommunication services. The principles and requirements of convergence of wireless sensor networks are likely to deliver all the desired benefits of NGN and should be carefully studied. In this paper, we focus on the power consumption topic, which is a fundamental concern in wireless multimedia sensor networks (WMSNs). Node placement in WMSNs has considerable impact on network lifetime. In this paper, we have investigated and developed a power-efficient node placement scheme (PENPS) in linear WMSNs, which can minimize the average energy consumption per node and maximize the network lifetime. The analysis of PENPS and the comparison of performance with the equal-spaced placement scheme (EPS) show that PENPS scheme can significantly decrease the average energy consumption per node, which can prolong the lifetime of sensor nodes and sensor networks effectively. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]