A centralized approach to energy-efficient protocols for wireless sensor networks

Abstract

This paper introduces a centralized approach to energy-efficient data gathering and communication protocols for wireless sensor networks. Inspired by the social behaviors of natural ants, we clearly assign the base station and sensor nodes different communication roles according to their different capabilities. We use the ant colony optimization (ACO) method in the base station to form a near-optimal chain. The sensor nodes in the networks then form a bidirection chain structure, which is self-adaptive to any minor changes. The data gathering communication in wireless sensor networks simulation results show that the ant chain algorithm performs better than many other protocols, in terms of energy-efficiency, data integrity and node's life time, when the base station is near where the sensor nodes are deployed.