An Energy Balance Strategy Based on Cooperating Level for Wireless Sensor Networks

Focusing on the unbalance of energy consumption in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), a novel strategy based on cooperating level is proposed to balance the energy consumption of sensor nodes. The minimum energy level among all sensor nodes on some route is adopted to be the cooperating level of the route. According to the cooperating level ratio of each possible route, the data flow can be transmitted on the optimum proportion along all possible routes from source node to sink node. Finally, the energy consumption balance of sensor nodes on multi-route is realized. Experiment results demonstrate that, compared with other schemes, this energy balance strategy is more rational and more efficient to prolong the lifetime of wireless sensor networks.