Data collection method for mobile sensor networks based on the theory of thermal fields

Abstract

Many sensor applications are aimed for mobile objects, where conventional routing approaches of data delivery might fail. Such applications are habitat monitoring, human probes or vehicular sensing systems. This paper targets such applications and proposes lightweight proactive distributed data collection scheme for Mobile Sensor Networks (MSN) based on the theory of thermal fields. By proper mapping, we create distribution function which allows considering characteristics of a sensor node. We show the functionality of our proposed forwarding method when adapted to the energy of sensor node. We also propose enhancement in order to maximize lifetime of the sensor nodes. We thoroughly evaluate proposed solution and discuss the tradeoffs. © 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.