An Efficient Multi-path Data Collection Scheme in Wireless Sensor Networks

Multi-path routing is essential in sensor data collection to overcome the high loss rates in wireless environments. In this paper, we investigate the construction of multi-path routing structures for sensor data collection and develop an enhanced scheme for collecting data in wireless sensor networks. In constructing multi-path routing structures, we aim at limiting the number of messages that each node transmits and receives in data collection so as to achieve a required level of energy efficiency. In the enhanced scheme for data collection, sensor nodes exploit the broadcast nature of wireless transmission to overhear data from their neighbors. This increases the numbers of data propagation paths from sensor nodes to the base station and improves the robustness of data collection without sacrificing the latency of data collection. We analyze the control parameter setting in the construction of routing structures for maximizing the benefits of overhearing. Experimental results show that our proposed methods achieve significantly better trade-offs among the robustness, latency and energy efficiency of data collection.