Order-Optimal Data Aggregation in Regular Wireless Sensor Networks

The predominate traffic patterns in a wireless sensor network are many-to-one and one-to-many communication. Hence, the performance of wireless sensor networks is characterized by the rate at which data can be disseminated from or aggregated to a data sink. In this paper, the problem of data aggregation at a single sink is considered. It is shown that a data aggregation rate of $\Theta({\log n}/{n})$ per node is optimal and that this rate can be achieved in regular wireless sensor networks using a generalization of cooperative beamforming called cooperative time-reversal communication.