Power-aware topology control for wireless multi-hop sensor networks

A power-aware approach that allows the power consumption to be evenly distributed among network nodes and, thereby, prolongs the network lifetime is proposed in this research. To begin with, each node has the same residual power level, and the algorithm employs the MST(minimum spanning tree)-based power-efficient topology control algorithm to obtain the first topology. Afterwards, when a node is making a decision on whether a wireless link between itself and a reachable neighboring node should be preserved or not in the topology being constructed, the decision is made based on not only the distance from its neighboring nodes but also the residual power levels of itself and its neighboring nodes. In principle, the constructed topology will be the one in which the node of a larger connectivity degree is the one of a higher residual power level. Also, from time to time, based on the residual power level of each node, the topolog may be restructured. A node of degree one is a leaf node, and those non-leaf nodes and their attached links form the backbone of the virtual infrastructure.