3D Real-Time Routing Protocol With Tunable Parameters for Wireless Sensor Networks

A novel 3D real-time geographical routing protocol (3DRTGP) for wireless sensor networks is presented in this paper. 3DRTGP controls the number of forwarding nodes in the network by limiting forwarding to a unique packet forwarding region (PFR). PFR selection is based on the network density around each of the forwarding nodes, which reduces the number of redundant packet transmissions, collisions, and congestion. This enables 3DRTGP to meet the real-time requirements of a time sensitive application. In order to meet the packet delivery delay deadline, a forwarding node uses its own delay parameters, such as queuing and processing delays, and the expected number of hops to the destination to make a forwarding decision. 3DRTGP does not require an explicit exchange of neighboring information, such as location information. 3DRTGP is evaluated through extensive simulations under various network densities and traffic load conditions, which provides network tuning parameters to meet the real-time requirements of applications. 3DRTGP heuristically solves the void node problem (VNP) in 3-D deployments. It is demonstrated that 3DRTGP resolves VNP given that there is no network partitioning. 3DRTGP significantly outperforms similar 3-D geographical routing protocols in terms of end-to-end delay and miss ratio.