An Energy-Saving Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Network Communication

Abstract

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), routing algorithms play a crucial role in managing sensor devices and enabling communication between wireless sensor nodes. Designing a reliable routing algorithm remains challenging due to sink nodes' limited resources and their unstable, low-power connectivity. This paper proposes an energy-efficient routing protocol aimed at selecting optimal cluster heads. Sensor nodes are grouped into clusters by associating with the most suitable cluster heads, thereby enhancing energy utilization. To prevent cluster heads far from the base station from depleting excessive energy, an effective routing strategy is introduced to determine the optimal path between the cluster heads and the base station. Furthermore, a real-time, energy-efficient routing framework is presented for core network design, utilizing fixed slot allocations within the WSN. The approach also explores reducing data transmission overhead by leveraging the relationship between single-hop and multi-hop routing strategies. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol significantly outperforms existing related protocols in terms of energy efficiency and network performance.