OCTBR: Optimized clustering tree based routing protocol for wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Routing protocol plays the vital role for information acquisition in wireless sensor networks. This paper proposes a novel routing protocol, called Optimized Clustering Tree Based Routing (OCTBR) protocol. In this protocol, the nodes capability and network environment are taken as the major considerations for the protocol design. The ratio of the cluster head is set according to the scale and density of the network, and the clustering mechanism is implemented based on some factors such as node's energy and the distance between nodes. When a large number of nodes in WSN become invalid, the network starts fast local routing repair algorithm to restore normal routing as soon as possible. The results of the simulation show that, compared with the existing tree based routing protocols, the OCTBR protocol can significantly increase the network throughput, packets reception rate, and finally reach the purpose to prolong the network lifetime. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.