Cross-Layer Design for Energy-Efficient Reliable Multi-Path Transmission in Event-Driven Wireless Sensor Networks

In event-driven wireless sensor networks (WSNs), a reliable, efficient, and scalable routing solution is required for the reliable delivery of sensory data to the base station (BS). However, existing routing algorithms rarely address the issue of energy efficiency under multi-path conflicts for multi-event-driven scenarios. In order to maximize energy efficiency while maintaining a manageable conflict probability, this paper investigates a cross-layer design of routing and power control for multi-event-driven WSNs. We first develop a mathematical characterization of the conflict probability in multi-path routing, and we then formulate the energy efficiency maximization problem as a non-convex combinatorial fractional optimization problem subject to a maximum conflict probability constraint. By utilizing non-linear fractional programming and dual decomposition, an iterative search algorithm was used to obtain near-optimal power allocation and routing solutions. Extensive results demonstrate that our proposed algorithm achieved a gain of 9.09% to 35.05% in energy efficiency compared to other routing algorithms, thus indicating that our proposed algorithm can avoid unnecessary control overhead from multi-path conflicts with a lower conflict probability and can ensure maximum energy efficiency through routing and power control design.