Link-Quality Aware Path Selection in the Presence of Proactive Jamming in Fallible Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we propose a mechanism to ensure the proper functioning of a wireless sensor network (WSN) in the presence of static and proactive jammer within the network. Existing research works have primarily focused on the detection of jammer node within the network and ameliorating its consequent effects on the network. However, these countermeasures to mitigate the effect of the jammer suffer from certain limitations as WSNs are primarily resource constrained and most of the countermeasures are computationally intensive. The objective of this paper is to prevent the disruption of the network in the presence of jamming by bypassing the jammed zone and setting up alternative paths. The alternative paths are chosen with the maximum link quality in order to maintain the quality of service of the network even after jamming. This paper proposes Link-quality Aware Path SElection (LAPSE) algorithm that chooses alternative paths based on the optimal link quality. LAPSE is based on optimal decision rule and its design considers the fallible nature of the nodes while choosing/rejecting a particular link. Finally, the performance of the proposed algorithm, LAPSE, is evaluated in terms of the network parameters—packet delivery rate, network throughput, transmission energy, node lifetime, and network lifetime. Results indicate that the performance of LAPSE is significantly better than the existing jamming avoidance algorithms.