Adaptive forwarder selection for distributed wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Wireless Sensor Network has emerged as a promising networking technique for various applications. Due to its specific characteristics, such as non rechargeable, low-power multi-functional sensor nodes, limited sensing, computation and communication capabilities, it is challenging to build networking protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks. In this chapter, the focus is on addressing the routing issue with regards to energy efficiency and network lifetime. An adaptive and self-organized routing protocol for distributed and decentralized network, called Distributed Adaptive Forwarder Selection, is proposed. Multiple factors, involving cross layers were used for selecting the adequate forwarders for packets. The proposed approach is suitable for dynamic environments as there is no fixed topology or static role assignment for nodes in the WSN. In addition, the approach can allow sensor nodes to make flexible decisions based on their current capabilities and states. We have performed simulations of the proposed protocol and compared with two existing routing protocols in terms of node lifetime, average energy consumption and average residual energy. The results show that the proposed protocol performed better than some well known routing protocols such as LEACH and MOECS.