Disaster Recovery in Wireless Networks: A Homology-Based Algorithm

Abstract: In this paper, we present an algorithm for the recovery of wireless networks after a disaster. Considering a damaged wireless network, presenting coverage holes or/and many disconnected components, we propose a disaster recovery algorithm which repairs the network. It provides the list of locations where to put new nodes in order to patch the coverage holes and mend the disconnected components. In order to do this we first consider the simplicial complex representation of the network, then the algorithm adds supplementary vertices in excessive number, and afterwards runs a reduction algorithm in order to reach an optimal result. One of the novelty of this work resides in the proposed method for the addition of vertices. We use a determinantal point process: the Ginibre point process which has inherent repulsion between vertices, and has never been simulated before for wireless networks representation. We compare both the determinantal point process addition method with other vertices addition methods, and the whole disaster recovery algorithm to the greedy algorithm for the set cover problem.