An m-EVBT algorithm for energy efficient routing in wireless sensor networks

The virtual backbone concept is a method of efficient communication in wireless sensor networks. A recent variant is the energy-aware virtual backbone tree (EVBT) algorithm which applies a tree structure to the backbone. This algorithm can minimize the energy consumed in a data transfer between a sensor node and a tree node, but cannot minimize the energy consumption throughout the routing process. In this paper, we propose a modified-EVBT (m-EVBT) algorithm which consumes less energy than the EVBT algorithm over the entire routing process. While EVBT algorithm uses physical distance to determine the upstream link of a sensor node, the proposed algorithm uses energy consumption information. The experimental results show that the m-EVBT algorithm consumes less energy than the EVBT algorithm. It also efficiently constructs the backbone tree.