A cross-layer energy-balanced routing algorithm for inter-PAN communications in ZigBee networks

ZigBee wireless technology is a global standard of short-range and low-data-rate for wireless sensor networks. To reduce the redundant overhead and to conserve nodes´ energy in energy-constrained and multi-PAN ZigBee networks, we propose in this paper a cross-layer energy-balanced inter-PAN routing algorithm (CEIPR). The proposed algorithm has three key functionalities: (1) establishes the multipath downstream routing by feedback mechanism based on gradient detection, (2) disperses the information of nodes´ residual energy with little overhead based on cross-layer design, and (3) uses gradient and nodes´ residual energy as routing criterion in inter-PAN communications. Simulation results show that our proposed algorithm outperforms an existing routing algorithm, IP-AODV (Inter-PAN AODV), in terms of energy consumption of nodes, network lifetime and the average end-to-end delay.