Optimal sensor placement in active multistatic sonar networks

Abstract

Recently the idea of deploying non-collocated sources and receivers in multistatic sensor networks (MSNs) has emerged as a promis-ing area of opportunity in sonar systems. This thesis addresses point coverage sensing problems in MSNs, where a number of points of interest have to be monitored in order to protect them from hostile underwater assets. We consider discrete cookie cutter sensors as well as various diffuse sensor models. By showing that the convex hull spanned by the targets is guaranteed to contain optimal sensor positions, we are able to limit the solution space. Using a cookie cutter sensor model, we are able to exclude even more suboptimal solutions by determining range-of-the-day, source and receiver circles. To address the nonconvex single-source placement problem, we develop the Divide Best Sector (DiBS) algorithm, which quickly provides an optimal source position assuming fixed receivers. Starting with a basic implementation of DiBS, we show how incorpo-rating advanced sector splitting methods and termination conditions further improve the algorithm. We also discuss two ways to use DiBS to find multiple source positions by placing sensors iteratively or simultaneously. Finally, we conclude that DiBS is a fast and simple algorithm that supports a wide variety of sensor models, various termination conditions, and objective functions.