Extending Wireless Sensor Network Lifetimes Through Channel Load Aware (Claw) Routing

The operation of a wireless sensor network is constrained by the limited energy capacity of its constituent nodes. Thus a routing protocol that minimizes energy consumption will allow sensor nodes to gather data and route packets from distant nodes for longer periods of time. However, most routing metrics such as ETX and ML tend to favor certain paths, often forwarding data on the same nodes repeatedly, causing battery levels of these frequented backbone nodes to be depleted more quickly than others. We show that the use of the Channel Load Aware (CLAW) routing metric, a metric that directs traffic to less traversed paths, balances energy consumption over a wider set of nodes and thus ensures longer operation of an energy-constrained WSN. We demonstrate that the CLAW routing metric achieves better energy balance by using more routes when forwarding data, without inducing goodput degradation nor increasing overall power consumption.