A Novel Routing Algorithm Based on Ant Colony Optimization for Hierarchical Wireless Sensor Networks

In order to utilize the limited energy of nodes efficiently and reduce the routing overhead in wireless sensor networks (WSN), this chapter proposes and describes an improved intercluster routing algorithm based on ant colony optimization. Firstly, we define three types of nodes in a cluster to meet the demand of large-scale WSN. Secondly, the weight parameter is defined and mapped to variables of ant colony algorithm based on the characteristics of WSN. Then the new algorithm is proposed, utilizing the ant colony to get the optimum route among cluster heads. Moreover, multipaths are built to enhance the validity of data transmission. The simulation results show that the new algorithm is effective for improving the optimization probability and balance the network load.