Energy optimized routing with directional antennas and tagging for multimedia sensor networks

Several routing optimization strategies have been proposed in research for Wireless Multimedia Sensor Network (WMSN), because of unavailability of the external power source. In this paper, a global energy optimization routing algorithm using directional antennas and tagging of Sensor Nodes (SNs) has been proposed. The proposed mechanism uses the multiple path routing techniques such as; Sequential Assignment Routing (SAR), Multi-path Multi-speed Routing Protocol (MMSPEED) etc., along with an addition of directional antennas instead of omni-directional. Directional antennas transmit the data in the suitable and best available direction based on high Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), instead of wasting energy and integrity of data by broadcasting. The tagging will help to analyze the coverage area of each SN in an effective way. In addition to transmitting the data in relevant direction, the nodes keep a track of other nodes by using their tags and periodically update the base station if they are unable to receive an update from a neighboring node. This mechanism increases the energy efficiency of the overall network and in comparison to other multi-path techniques, it is more intelligent and secure. The validations have been performed using simulations, which shows that the lifetime and average energy consumption of the network are significantly improved by imposing this method on multi-path algorithms. Moreover, the proposed scheme can be integrated with any multi-path routing strategy.