Maximal lifetime power and rate allocation for wireless sensor systems with data distortion constraints

Abstract

We address a lifetime maximization problem for a single-hop wireless sensor system (also known as a Gaussian sensor network) where multiple sensors encode and communicate their measurements of a Gaussian random source to a fusion center (FC). The FC is required to reconstruct the source within a prescribed distortion threshold. The lifetime optimization problem is formulated as a joint power, rate, and timeslot [for time-division multiple access (TDMA)] allocation problem under the constraints of the well-known rate distortion constraints for the Gaussian CEO problem, the capacity constraints of the wireless links, the energy constraints of the sensor nodes and the strict delay constraint wi..