Ant based Multiple Cluster Tree Routing for 802. 15. 4 Sensor Networks

Abstract

In IEEE 802.15.4 sensor networks, the non-optimal selection of routes, congestion and uneven traffic distribution in tree routing can cause performance degradation. Also the imbalance in the workload can result in hotspot problems and the energy depletion of the nodes. In this paper we propose an ant based multiple cluster tree routing for 802.15.4 sensor networks. In this approach, a node is randomly selected among the available nodes as the PAN coordinator. The PAN coordinator utilizes the swarm intelligence based ant colony optimization technique to select the nodes within the transmission range for cluster formation which corresponds to the trees. In order to achieve the diverse topologies of different trees, a proper parent is selected based on the link quality index. Further, each node selects the tree with minimum cost as the main routing tree adaptable to fault free multimedia traffic. Finally a QoS based routing is utilized for cluster based multi tree topology using ant agents. By simulations results, we show that proposed approach is efficient in terms of routing.