Energy Saving Schedule for Target Tracking Sensor Networks to Maximize the Network Lifetime

Target tracking sensor networks monitor and track the movement of a target object. Energy management in these sensor networks is crucial to prolong the network lifetime. We propose a new protocol EST (energy saving schedule for target tracking sensor networks) that provides a dynamic sleep schedule for the radios such that maximum energy is saved without affecting the sensors´ activities. When there is no target, the communication modules of sensor nodes are put into sleep using a static schedule, except the border nodes. Interior nodes do not perform the sensing activity in the surveillance state. If a target arrives, the sleep schedule for the radios is changed dynamically in order to send the arrival message to neighboring sensors. By receiving the arrival message, the sleeping neighbor nodes start sensing. The objectives of our protocol are to (1) balance the lifetime of all the sensor nodes in the network to increase the network lifetime (2) reduce the energy consumption by activating the sensors only when the target arrives in that region. Simulation results show that EST provides a significant amount of energy savings and potentially increases the network lifetime by 25% more than S-MAC at low load