Enhancing Reptile search algorithm with shifted distribution estimation strategy for coverage optimization in wireless sensor networks

The rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT) has extensively promoted the development of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), an essential technology for series displaying perception and data collected from the physical world. In densely distributed areas, sensor nodes are unevenly distributed, which leads to the network coverage build-up and the consequent efficiency and effectiveness of WSNs. To address this issue, this paper proposes a new method for WSN coverage optimization based on the Reptile Search Algorithm (RSA). In the past, the Reptile Search algorithm has been used to solve optimization problems, which means it can improve different processes. However, the RSA needs to track the trajectory of optimal individuals in each iteration, which will ignore non-optimal individuals' bioeconomic characteristics. Therefore, the paper introduces a distribution estimation strategy into the RSA framework, which can fully mine all the positional information hidden in the entire population. We selected several functions as optimization test benchmark functions to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed method. This paper compares the proposed improved RSA with the standard RSA and some traditional optimization algorithms. The result has been calculated through a series of experiments on network coverage optimization, and the change of parameters also determines the effect of the RSA in the optimization of network coverage. The simulated results of the three similar network coverage optimization experiments show that the improved RSA can be used efficiently within different scenarios.