An integrated routing protocol for wireless sensor networks

Since the size of on-chip memory greatly affects the chip cost, sensors targeting at tiny size and low cost cannot afford large memory module. How to route packets efficiently in networks containing memory constraint nodes is an interesting and challenging research topic. In this paper, we propose an integrated routing protocol for large-scale sensor networks consisting of both memory-constraint nodes and memory-sufficient nodes. In our design, a spanning-tree is first built to ensure that every node pair is connected through a tree route. Source nodes can directly use tree routes to deliver short or urgent messages; they can also choose to discover shortcuts through a reactive routing process. Intermediate nodes, depending on their memory conditions, either create routing entries to guide data forwarding, or simply relay all packets following tree routes. Simulations verify the feasibility of our protocol and show it a promising scheme empowering highly flexible network designs.