Cluster-RLM: Establishing a Routing Path with Cluster-Based Redundant Link Minimization in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

In a wireless sensor network, the flooding algorithm is often invoked to establish a routing path between a sensor node and the sink (base station). But this algorithm generates a lot of redundant packets, thus wasting unnecessary network resources and packet delivery energy. Researchers have then presented two solutions, Redundant Link Minimization (RLM for short) and Redundant Link Minimization-Triangle (RLM-T for short), to mitigate the mentioned phenomena. But both algorithms still have their own problems, e.g., many redundant packets still exist, meaning that the established routing-path can be further optimized. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an improved version, called the Cluster-based Redundant Link Minimization scheme (C-RLM for short), with which an event-driven wireless sensor network (EDWSN for short) can build its routing paths with less control packets and lower energy consumption than those of the two. Experimental results show that this method can effectively improve an EDWSN's throughputs and mitigate its packet delivery energy consumption.