XVR: X visiting-pattern routing for sensor networks

This paper proposes a new routing paradigm for sensor networks called X visiting-pattern routing (XVR) that decouples visiting-patterns of packets from the routing core. Visiting-patterns indicate where to forward packets as next hops in a network and are essential to any routing service. With XVR, the visiting-patterns are defined in a separate module from the routing core, thus enabling them to be changed independently. The overhead of changing routing behavior is further reduced significantly by parameterizing usual visiting-patterns; different routing services can be obtained by simply changing the visiting-pattern parameters. In addition, with the extensive routing behavior space and the separate visiting-pattern module, XVR furnishes a desirable base to realize automatic and concurrent routing services that adapt to application and network dynamics. Discussions and extensive simulations show that by systematically testing different visiting-patterns XVR provides a unique environment and a comprehensive approach to study both existing and new routing algorithms.