A Wireless Sensor Network Recharging Strategy by Balancing Lifespan of Sensor Nodes

The life of many wireless sensor networks is limited by their battery-based energy source. Recharging batteries from a distance by the wireless energy transferring technique could lift this restriction. However, how to deploy the mobile charging device requires further research. In this paper, we take the energy constraint of mobile wireless charger (MWC) into consideration and aim at minimizing the total energy consumption by it in recharging cycles. After formulating the optimization problem, we present the MMES-LME method based on the modified MAXMIN Ant System and equalization strategy with the constraint of MWC limited energy. The equalization strategy is presented to equalize the lifespan of all sensor nodes to avoid the untimely death of WSN and balance the consumption of MWC travelling energy and recharging energy. Our experimental results demonstrate improved performance in comparison to the greedy method and MM-LME method, which is based on MAX-MIN Ant System.