Real-time Power-Aware Routing in Sensor Networks

TLDR

Many wireless sensor network applications must resolve the inherent conflict between energy‑efficient communication and the need to achieve desired quality of service such as end‑to‑end communication delay. The authors propose the Real‑time Power‑Aware Routing (RPAR) protocol to meet application‑specified communication delays while minimizing energy consumption through dynamic power and routing adaptation. RPAR features a power‑aware forwarding policy and an efficient neighborhood manager optimized for resource‑constrained sensors, and it addresses lossy links, scalability, and severe memory and bandwidth constraints. Simulations with a realistic radio model of MICA2 motes show that RPAR significantly reduces missed deadlines and energy consumption compared to existing real‑time and energy‑efficient routing protocols.

Abstract

Many wireless sensor network applications must resolve the inherent conflict between energy efficient communication and the need to achieve desired quality of service such as end-to-end communication delay. To address this challenge, we propose the Real-time Power-Aware Routing (RPAR) protocol, which achieves application-specified communication delays at low energy cost by dynamically adapting transmission power and routing decisions. RPAR features a power-aware forwarding policy and an efficient neighborhood manager that are optimized for resource-constrained wireless sensors. Moreover, RPAR addresses important practical issues in wireless sensor networks, including lossy links, scalability, and severe memory and bandwidth constraints. Simulations based on a realistic radio model of MICA2 motes show that RPAR significantly reduces the number of deadlines missed and energy consumption compared to existing real-time and energy-efficient routing protocols.