IGRC: An improved grid-based joint routing and charging algorithm for wireless rechargeable sensor networks

Abstract The Social Internet of Things (SIoT) is a modern paradigm of technology characterized by the convergence of the Internet of Things and social networks. Since the interaction of an object with a person or another object is enabled by smart sensors, wireless rechargeable sensor networks (WRSNs) play an important role in advancing SIoT technology. This paper proposes an improved grid-based joint routing and charging algorithm (IGRC) to implement path planning for a mobile charger, aiming to achieve energy balance in WRSNs by providing real-time charging services. The network is divided into multiple uniform square rings in IGRC. The mobile charger first starts from the center of the network and employs the Nearest Neighbor method to visit nodes in the three inner square rings, then moves along the edge of the outer rings and stops at every vertex to charge the nodes in the outer rings. The charging time allocated for each square ring can be accurately calculated based on various energy consumption rates. IGRC ensures that every node can replenish its energy before falling below a critical threshold. Simulation results demonstrate that IGRC outperforms S-CURVES(ad) and GRC in regards to energy balancing and node survival rate.