Distributed Algorithm for En Route Aggregation Decision in Wireless Sensor Networks

In sensor networks, en route aggregation decision regarding where and when aggregation shall be performed along the routes has been explicitly or implicitly studied extensively. However, existing solutions have omitted one key dimension in the optimization space, namely, the aggregation cost. In this paper, focusing on optimizing over both transmission and aggregation costs, we develop an online algorithm capable of dynamically adjusting the route structure when sensor nodes join or leave the network. Furthermore, by only performing such reconstructions locally and maximally preserving existing routing structure, we show that the online algorithm can be readily implemented in real networks in a distributed manner requiring only localized information. Analytically and experimentally, we show that the online algorithm promises extremely small performance deviation from the offline version, which has already been shown to outperform other routing schemes with static aggregation decision.