Increasing network lifetime and data transfer through node vulnerability aware routing in Wireless Sensor Networks

Most of the data routing protocols proposed for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) address the energy efficiency problem and try to achieve the fundamental objective of prolonging the network´s operational lifetime. A network´s operational lifetime can be extended if the energy of all nodes in the sensor network is used equitably and the overall connectivity from source to destination nodes is maintained. In this paper, we propose a data routing technique that takes into account the importance of a particular node for overall network connectivity for all data routing decisions. We highlight that some nodes are more important for network connectivity than others based upon their physical location in the field and that these nodes need to be used sporadically for data forwarding. Avoiding the use of such important nodes results in prolonging the overall network lifetime and maximizing the data transfer to the base station. Simulation results are shown to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique.