Using data mules for sensor network data recovery

In this paper, we study the problem of efficient data recovery using the data mules approach, where a set of mobile sensors with advanced mobility capabilities re-acquire lost data by visiting the neighbors of failed sensors, thereby avoiding permanent data loss in the network. Our approach involves defining the optimal communication graph and mules' placements such that the overall traveling time and distance is minimized regardless to which sensors crashed. We explore this problem under different practical network topologies such as arbitrary graphs, grids and random linear networks and provide approximation algorithms based on multiple combinatorial techniques. Simulation experiments demonstrate that our algorithms outperform various competitive solutions for different network models, and that they are applicable for practical scenarios.