DISSERTATION TITLE: SURVIVABILITY TECHNIQUES FORRESTORING CONNECTED COVERAGE IN WIRELESS SENSOR AND MOBILE ACTOR NETWORKS

Wireless sensor and mobile actor networks (WSMANs) are captivating growing
attention because they not only boost existing sensor network applications but also
introduce wide range of novel applications that require autonomous, active, and
intelligent interaction with the environment. Examples of such applications include
military (e.g., homeland security, battlefield reconnaissance, landmine detection and
deactivation), critical infrastructure protection (e.g., oil & gas pipeline monitoring and
maintenance) and civilian (e.g., disaster management). . In these applications,
maintaining actor connected coverage is extremely crucial for successful operation of
WSMAN because mobile nodes have to collaborate on the data received from sensors
and perform optimal coordinated response against the reported events. However,
failure of an actor may partition the network into disjoint segments besides leaving
unattended sensors (i.e., coverage) and thus disrupts the operation.