A Load-Balance Routing Algorithm for Multi-Sink Wireless Sensor Networks

Since sink nodes can be recharged in many applications, the neighbors of sink nodes will play a key role on deciding the network lifetime. Current algorithms for multi-sink wireless sensor networks only consider the load-balance among sink nodes. To balance the loads among the neighbors of sink nodes and prolong the network lifetime, we presented a multi-sink and load-balance routing algorithm (MSLBR): the neighbors of all sink nodes are called deputies. Each nodepsilas packet can randomly select a deputy as its destination, and a forward factor, which is the quotient of dividing its neighborspsila residual energy by their shortest hops to the destination, is used to help to find the next hop during routing procedure. The experiments show MSLBR has the best load-balance performance among deputies in comparison with energy level based routing (ELBR) and primary based routing(PBR) algorithms, and the network lifetime is consequently prolonged.