A Cross-Layer Optimized Opportunistic Routing Scheme for Loss-and-Delay Sensitive WSNs

Area of Science:

• Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)
• Communication Systems
• Network Routing Protocols

Background:

• Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) face challenges with unreliable communication links, impacting data routing for sensitive applications.
• Existing Opportunistic Routing (OR) in WSNs assumes uniform transmission power, limiting reliability and delay improvements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a Cross-layer Optimized Opportunistic Routing (COOR) scheme to enhance communication reliability and reduce data transmission delay in WSNs.
• To leverage remaining network energy for increased transmission power, improving reliability or transmission distance.

Main Methods:

• Developed the COOR scheme with two strategies: COOR(R) for higher reliability at the same distance and COOR(P) for longer distance with same reliability.
• Analyzed energy consumption to determine optimal transmission power values across different network areas.
• Conducted extensive experimental and theoretical analyses to validate the scheme's performance.

Main Results:

• The COOR scheme significantly increased communication reliability by 36.62-87.77%.
• Data transmission delay was reduced by 21.09-52.48%.
• Energy consumption was balanced across 86.97% of network nodes.

Conclusions:

• The COOR scheme effectively improves WSN performance for loss- and delay-sensitive applications.
• By optimizing transmission power and hop selection, COOR enhances reliability and reduces latency.
• The proposed strategies balance energy consumption, extending network lifetime.