A Query-Aware Routing Algorithm in Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks have become increasingly popular due to the variety applications in both military and civilian fields. Routing algorithms are critical for enabling the successful operations of sensor networks. A number of routing algorithms have been proposed. However, all the routing algorithms are considered in isolation from the particular communication needs of the data management. This paper focuses on the design of the routing algorithms considering the needs of processing data query in sensor networks. A query-aware routing algorithm is proposed. The algorithm has the following advantages comparing with other routing algorithms. First, it processes as many queries as possible while routing. Second, the broadcast is executed locally so that the energy required by globe broadcasts is saved. Third, routing is executed by searching and generating a binary-tree and only two boundary nodes selected to broadcast message when broadcast is needed so that the number of broadcast is reduced dramatically and the cover range of local broadcast is increased. Finally, multiple routing paths for many routing requirements are found by merging routing requirements and through only one random walk in the sensor network. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has better performance and scalibility than other routing algorithms.