Efficient routing for the extension of lifetime and quality of energy constrained ad hoc networks

This paper presents two new routing algorithms for maximising the lifetimes of wireless energy-constrained ad-hoc networks. Our approach is based on the homogenisation of energy consumption in the network as opposed to the more traditional approach where the paths are chosen based upon highest energy. Results show the relative merits of the proposed schemes with respect to existing energy-aware protocols and clearly indicated that the two proposed algorithms enable full network connectivity to be maintained for longer. Additionally, the two algorithms mitigate against the effects of inevitable node outages caused by energy exhaustion and offer an improved likelihood of maintaining connectivity when nodes are lost by comparison with other previously proposed algorithms.