A data collection approach based on mobile sinks for heterogeneous sensor networks

In wireless sensor networks, the limitation of energy and cache space of nodes around the base station, as well as the multi-hop transmission instability will seriously interfere the performance of traditional data collection protocols. To address this problem, a data collection mechanism by using mobile base station is proposed. Firstly, a new clustering algorithm-Time High-Overflow-Based Dominating (THD) is proposed that the sensor network is divided into several clusters based on sample rate and cache of nodes. Secondly, temporary caching mechanism (TCM) is proposed to further resolve the buffer overflow problem. Finally, Dominating-Based Minimum Weighted Sum (DMWS) protocol is proposed in order to design the optimal path of the mobile base stations. The simulation results show that: compared with traditional data collection schemes, the method shortens the moving distance of the mobile base station, extends the network life cycle reduces the energy consumption, and has the shorter delay of the data.