Design of an Improved Energy Efficient Cluster-based Routing Protocol backed by Wireless Energy Transfer for Wireless Sensor Networks

This work focuses on energy optimization of sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks. A wireless sensor network contains huge amount of sensor nodes that are often spread out in hard to reach and harsh habitats. A sensor node consists of a battery that has a limited lifetime and cannot be replenished easily. In this paper, we present a routing protocol which uses the cluster-based technology for efficient usage of battery’s energy. The concept of energy harvesting and wireless energy transfer for sensors is also introduced. As energy conservation techniques only slow down the energy consumption of nodes, energy harvesting and wireless recharging can be a permanent solution to the battery’s drainage problem. During wireless recharging, no human resource will be needed to perform the energy transfer task and it can be done with the help of mobile sink. We also compare the proposed scheme to the existing cluster-based routing protocols to demonstrate its efficiency.