DEHAR: A distributed energy harvesting aware routing algorithm for ad-hoc multi-hop wireless sensor networks

Abstract

One of the key design goals in Wireless Sensor Networks is long lasting or even continuous operation. Continuous operation is made possible through energy harvesting. Keeping the network operational imposes a demand to prevent network segmentation and power loss in nodes. It is therefore important that the best energy-wise route is found for each data transfer from a source node to the sink node. We present a new adaptive and distributed routing algorithm for finding energy optimised routes in a wireless sensor network with energy harvesting. The algorithm finds an energy efficient route from each source node to a single sink node, taking into account the current energy status of the network. By simulation, the algorithm is shown to be able to adapt to changes in harvested and stored energy. Simulations show that continuous operation is possible.