Improving the Reliability of Wireless Sensor Network Assisted IoT Network with a Cluster-Based Chain-Tree Routing Protocol

The primary objective of designing routing protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is to extend the network lifetime by optimizing the use of the limited battery energy of the sensor nodes. To improve conservation of energy and longevity of the network in WSNs, this study proposes a Cluster-based Chain-Tree Routing Protocol (CCTRP). Integrating tree based chain and cluster routing methods in WSNs is the primary objective of this study. This new CCTRP adopts a sector-based vertical network-partitioning scheme that divides network into sectors and it again vertically partitions the nodes too form various size of clusters. Then, Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) is created based on the kruskal’s Algorithm through a Chain Leader (CL) node serving as the receiver and chain is formed from CLs of last level cluster to Base Station (BS) in each sector. Using the BS, remaining energy and distance to the next CL node, CCTRP determines the Cluster Leader (CL) or Chain CL node in each cluster. For data transport, it also selects the shortest paths. When the energy that remains in the node is ready to be exhausted, the transition is executed according to this protocol. This results in a significant improvement of the average network lifespan. Finally, the CCTRP protocol outperforms the current protocols in terms of network performance, according to the simulation results.