Optimal traffic distribution in minimum energy wireless sensor networks

Energy efficient data transmission and traffic control are essential for increasing the lifetime of wireless sensor networks (WSN). In traditional sensor networks, the optimization of the traffic distribution is restricted to a subset of the possible routes. This constraint makes achieving a global energy minimization impossible. In this paper, the stochastic based traffic distribution (SBTD) is formulated in terms of the traffic segmentation with an additional degree of freedom of the routes. It is derived based on the parametric stochastic models underlying the operational characteristics of the WSNs, whereby, the nodes´ unbalanced energy consumption is balanced and the network´s lifetime is prolonged. As illustrated in the paper, a WSN using the proposed optimal traffic distribution performs significantly better in conserving energy and increasing the WSN´s lifetime as compared to the energy balanced data propagation (EBDP) as suggested in C. Efthymiou, et al (2004)