Task allocation based on node pair intimacy in wireless sensor networks

Resourced-constrained task allocation is a fundamental research problem in wireless sensor networks. While existing approaches mainly allocate the task to a single sensor node, this study proposes a novel algorithm, in which tasks are allocated to a pair of collaboratively working sensor nodes based on their intimacy. Specifically, the intimacy level of two nodes is modelled based on their link quality and preference degree. This basic idea is that each node pair should be allocated with a task whose task level (e.g. measured by the computing intensity) could match with the intimacy level of this node pair, so that each task can be executed collaboratively and efficiently. Considering that a node connecting with multiple nodes, it may be allocated with redundant tasks (tasks with the same task level), and these tasks need to be adjusted to avoid redundant task execution. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm not only can improve the task allocation efficiency but also can balance the network energy consumption.