Multiple mobile sink-based routing algorithm for data dissemination in wireless sensor networks

In recent years, many energy-efficient algorithms and data dissemination protocols have been proposed for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Because sensor nodes close to sink node have more traffic loads, they will quickly deplete their limited energy in practical implementation, and it will finally lead to energy hole and network partition problem. Adding sink mobility into sensor networks can bring in new opportunities to improve energy efficiency for WSNs. In this paper, we proposed our multiple mobile sink-based routing algorithm for data dissemination to improve WSNs performance. Multiple mobile sinks will be utilized to collect the interested raw data. They will move back and forth along predetermined paths; one of which is the diameter of the circle, and the other two are fixed on arc lines. Mobile sinks will sojourn at some fixed points to collect raw data from relevant areas. Extensive simulation results show that our proposed algorithm can efficiently mitigate the hot spots problem and prolong the network lifetime of WSNs. Copyright (c) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.