Geometry-Based Distributed Spatial Skyline Queries in Wireless Sensor Networks

Algorithms for skyline querying based on wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been widely used in the field of environmental monitoring. Because of the multi-dimensional nature of the problem of monitoring spatial position, traditional skyline query strategies cause enormous computational costs and energy consumption. To ensure the efficient use of sensor energy, a geometry-based distributed spatial query strategy (GDSSky) is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the paper presents a geometry-based region partition strategy. It uses the skyline area reduction method based on the convex hull vertices, to quickly query the spatial skyline data related to a specific query area, and proposes a regional partition strategy based on the triangulation method, to implement distributed queries in each sub-region and reduce the comparison times between nodes. Secondly, a sub-region clustering strategy is designed to group the data inside into clusters for parallel queries that can save time. Finally, the paper presents a distributed query strategy based on the data node tree to traverse all adjacent sensors’ monitoring locations. It conducts spatial skyline queries for spatial skyline data that have been obtained and not found respectively, so as to realize the parallel queries. A large number of simulation results shows that GDSSky can quickly return the places which are nearer to query locations and have larger pollution capacity, and significantly reduce the WSN energy consumption.