Scalable Cluster-Based Path Planning for Timely Data Gathering in Wireless Sensor Networks

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), using mobile sinks facilitates the interconnection between the far distance nodes and the base station and save the energy by reducing the number of hops. However, in time-sensitive applications, where the mobile sinks face time limitations for collecting data, the length of the traveling path should be considered attentively to ensure that the collected data is useful after delivery. Although Timeliness Traveling Path Planning (TTPP) as one of the proposed approaches works well for timely data gathering in WSNs, it suffers from scalability because it is essentially based on using a single mobile sink that is applicable only in small scale networks. In this paper by considering multiple mobile sinks, a new version of the TTPP named Scalable Cluster-based Path Planning (SCPP) is introduced for using in the large scale networks. The results of the simulations indicate that the proposed method reduces the relay hop counts, enhances the network lifetime, and offers a better performance as compared to the TTPP method.