For a connected graph, representing a sensor network, distributed algorithms for the Set Covering Problem can be employed to construct reasonably small subsets of the nodes, called k-SPR sets. Such a set can serve as a virtual backbone to facilitate shortest path routing, as introduced in [40], [12] and [13]. When employed in a hierarchical fashion, together with a hybrid (partly proactive, partly reactive) strategy, the k-SPR set methods become highly scalable, resulting in guaranteed shortest path routing with comparatively little overhead. In this paper, we first discuss the notion of k-SPR sets, with the nodes of such a set functioning as routers for the network. These sets generalize our earlier k-SPR sets, which facilitated shortest path routing. We then introduce K-SPR sequences that are used for hierarchical routing. We propose a distributed greedy algorithm for construction of K-SPR sequences. The new sets facilitate minimal path routing, where “minimal path” here means ...
Michael Q. Rieck, Subhankar Dhar