EBDC: an energy-balanced data collection mechanism using a mobile data collector in WSNs

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Network Engineering

Background:

• Data collection is a critical challenge in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs).
• Traditional tree-based data collection causes energy imbalance, overloading sensors near the sink.
• Existing mobile-sink mechanisms aim to mitigate this energy unbalance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel Energy-Balanced Data Collection (EBDC) mechanism for WSNs.
• To address the energy unbalance problem by balancing data-relaying workloads among all sensors.
• To enhance the overall network lifetime and energy efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Developing an Energy-Balanced Data Collection (EBDC) mechanism.
• Determining an optimal trajectory for a mobile data collector (mobile sink).
• Utilizing theoretical analysis and performance evaluations to validate the approach.

Main Results:

• The proposed EBDC mechanism effectively balances data-relaying workloads across all sensors.
• EBDC significantly improves network lifetime compared to existing methods.
• Enhanced energy balancing was observed, reducing premature sensor failure.

Conclusions:

• The EBDC mechanism provides a viable solution for energy unbalance in WSN data collection.
• Optimizing mobile sink trajectories is crucial for extending WSN network lifetime.
• EBDC offers superior performance in terms of energy balancing and longevity.