Context-Aware Geographic Routing for Sensor Networks with Routing Holes

Modern sensor networks are deployed in various terrains of interest. As the complexity of their deployed areas is growing, existing geographic routing algorithms are facing challenges. Holes in networks often cause failures in message routing. Energy consumption, scalability, and routing efficiency are also key design challenges. In this paper, we propose a novel geographic routing algorithm called HOle-BYpassing routing with Context-AwareNess (HobyCan). Our approach locally sets up multiple detour paths to bypass almost all kinds of holes. Therefore, contours of holes are extended with multiple detour paths. According to various context information of a sensor network, such as the size of holes or the remaining energy of nodes, disjoint detour paths can be used alternatively to achieve optimal routing paths or load balance of the network. Simulation results demonstrate the performance of our algorithm, as well as the significance of context information as routing parameters.