Adaptive Hybrid Data Aggregation Policy for asynchronous MAC-based clustered sensor networks

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), sensor nodes consume their limited battery energy for data transmission. Especially, the clustered sensor nodes in clustered sensor networks nearer the sink need to transmit data packets more frequently, because those functions as both sensor data generator and routers for data transmissions of other sensor nodes; subsequently, their faster energy depletion inevitably result in earlier turning off than others, so called the energy hole problem. Thus, it is imperative to adaptively control the number of data transmission of the clustered sensor nodes. To address this issue, this paper proposes an Adaptive Hybrid Data Aggregation Policy (AHDAP) that is designed to adjust the maximum size of data bursts to be transmitted according to the relative location of the clustered sensor node from the sink so that adaptively controlling the number of data transmission. The performance evaluation results show that the AHDAP can make the clustered sensor nodes nearer the sink result have smaller data transmission for better energy conservation. As a consequence, the AHDAP can achieve enhanced network sustainability as well as effectively extends lifetimes of the clustered sensor nodes by achieving its target performance.