Energy-efficient self-organizing communication protocols for wireless sensor networks

A challenge in the design of wireless microsensor networks is the preservation of battery life in the microsensor nodes. Energy is expended not only in transmitting packets, but also in listening to the channel. This paper presents energy-preserving channel-access and routing protocols for self-organized communication in a wireless microsensor network containing a large number of low-cost nodes and a base station. The routing protocols are designed to use the remaining energy of the radios in making routing decisions. Performance is compared to a protocol that does not utilize energy information.