The development of localized algorithms in wireless sensor networks

Advances in sensor technology and wireless communications have made networked microsensors possible, where each sensor individually senses the environment but collaboratively achieves complex information gathering and dissemination tasks. These networked sensors, however, possess several characteristics that have challenged many aspects of traditional computer network design, such as the scalability issue caused by the sheer amount of sensor nodes, the infrastructureless network, and the stringent resource on-board the sensors. These new features call for a re-design of overall structure of applications and services. It has been widely accepted that practical localized algorithms is probably the best solution to wireless sensor networks. In this article, we discuss recent research results on localized algorithms design in supporting services and applications in sensor networks.