GB: distributed reachability-tunable broadcast algorithms for wireless sensor networks

In this paper, we propose guided broadcast algorithms (GB) - a family of distributed broadcast algorithms for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). GB is based on the recently proposed self-organizing redundancy cellular architecture (SoRCA) for WSNs. It utilizes spatial diversity to cover the sensor nodes in the WSN for a tunable number of times to ensure that at least n portion, a parameter specified by QoS-requirements, of nodes will receive the broadcast message (BM), instead of striving for a 100% delivery ratio which can be costly and unnecessary in some WSN applications. Specifically, the coverage assurance algorithm (CAA) in the GB family ensures that, in the ideal scenario, all nodes in the WSN receive any BM with probability that is at least n; the propagation assurance algorithm (PAA) is invoked to circumvent obstacles and to ensure that BMs propagate through the entire WSN. Additionally, the load balancing and equal exposure scheme (LBEE) is proposed to balance broadcast energy cost. Our performance evaluations show that the proposed schemes possess several nice characteristics that fit well for many applications of WSNs