A routing algorithm framework for multimedia applications in wireless sensor networks

The existing routing protocols designed for real-time multimedia applications in sensor networks adopt comparatively simple routing models where fewer service metrics are considered. Furthermore, for the sake of route discovery or the acquisition of a target location, they usually need extra locating equipments or beacon exchanges to construct a coordinate system for each sensor node, which imports extra costs and imprecision into routing algorithms. We propose a novel routing algorithm framework RAFMA for multimedia communications in sensor networks. RAFMA not only can provide end-to-end delay guarantee and packet loss ratio guarantee for multimedia communications, but also can optimize and balance the energy consumption in sensor nodes. In RAFMA, neither the acquisition of target location nor the route discovery process requires any extra measurement equipment or coordinate system based on location message exchange. Theoretical analysis and simulation experiments are provided to validate our claims.