An adaptive feedback timing control algorithm of delay-constrained data aggregation in wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) play an increasingly important role in civilian and military settings. With the limited energy supply, sensor nodes do neither large calculations nor further transmissions. Data aggregation can reduce the redundancy of packets and save energy to prolong the lifetime of sensor networks. This paper proposes a novel mechanism for the delay-ranged feedback timing control (DRFT) that tackles the problem of the waiting period of aggregation nodes. In order to increase the possibility of aggregating the data completely, DRFT not only assigns longer aggregation time to the nodes with more children nodes, but also adaptively adjusts the waiting time to meet various queries and different requirements. Theoretical analysis and simulation results demonstrate that DRFT can achieve a good trade-off between energy consumption and query delay.