Distributed Data Gathering with Graded Node Distribution in Sensor Networks to Maximize Lifetime

In multi-hop wireless sensor networks, the problem of uneven energy depletion is intrinsic to the system. With uniform node distribution and continuous traffic model without data fusion, no routing strategy, in general, can avoid the creation of an energy hole around the sink. However, nearly balanced energy consumption can be achieved by using non-uniform deterministic node distribution where nodes are placed in predetermined positions. In this paper, for a random non-uniform node distribution, a simple static distributed algorithm is developed for data gathering with an attempt to distribute the traffic uniformly to maximize the lifetime of the network. It requires just a one-time computation, based on the knowledge of its neighbours only during the initialisation of the network. Simulation studies show that for non-uniform random distribution of nodes the proposed algorithm with less information and less computing can enhance network lifetime significantly compared to earlier algorithms.