Abstract:
This paper is intended to serve as an overview of, and mostly a tutorial to illustrate,
the optimization techniques used in several different key design aspects that have been considered
in the literature of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). It targets the researchers who are new to the
mathematical optimization tool, and wish to apply it to WSN design problems. We hence divide the
paper into two main parts. One part is dedicated to introduce optimization theory and an overview on
some of its techniques that could be helpful in design problem in WSNs. In the second part, we present
a number of design aspects that we came across in the WSN literature in which mathematical
optimization methods have been used in the design. For each design aspect, a key paper is selected,
and for each we explain the formulation techniques and the solution methods implemented. We also
provide in-depth analyses and assessments of the problem formulations, the corresponding solution
techniques and experimental procedures in some of these papers. The analyses and assessments,
which are provided in the form of comments, are meant to reflect the points that we believe should
be taken into account when using optimization as a tool for design purposes.
