Directional Itinerary Planning for Multiple Mobile Agents in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Currently, the majority of research in the area of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is directed towards optimizing energy use during itinerary planning by mobile agents (MAs). The route taken by the MA when migrating can get a significant effect on energy consumption and the lifespan of the network. Conversely, finding an ideal arrangement of Source Nodes (SNs) for mobile agents to visit could be a problematic issue. It is within this framework that this work focused on solving certain problems related to itinerary planning based on a multimobile agent (MMA) strategy in networks. The objective of our research was to increase the lifespan of sensor networks and to diminish the length of the data collection task. In order to achieve our objective, we proposed a new approach in WSNs, which took into consideration the criterion of an appropriate number of MAs, the criterion of the appropriate grouping of SNs, and finally the criterion of the optimal itinerary followed by each MA to visit all its SNs. Thus, we suggested an approach that may be classified as a centralized planning model where the itinerary schedule is entirely shaped by the base station (sink) which, unlike other approaches, is no longer constrained by energy consumption. A series of simulations to measure the performance of the new planning process was also carried out.