Hindawi

Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

Volume 2019, Article ID 3929876, 12 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3929876

Research Article
Delay Tolerance and Energy Saving in Wireless Sensor Networks
with a Mobile Base Station

1 2
Oday Jerew and Nizar Al Bassam
1
Asia Pacific International College, Sydney, Australia
2
Middle East College, Muscat, Oman

Correspondence should be addressed to Oday Jerew; [email protected]

Received 3 July 2018; Revised 30 October 2018; Accepted 17 December 2018; Published 12 February 2019

Academic Editor: Donatella Darsena

Copyright © 2019 Oday Jerew and Nizar Al Bassam. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.

Recent research shows that significant energy saving can be achieved in wireless sensor networks by using mobile devices. A mobile
device roams sensing fields and collects data from sensors through a short transmission range. Multihop communication is used
to improve data gathering by reducing the tour length of the mobile device. In this paper we study the trade-off between energy
saving and data gathering latency in wireless sensor networks. In particular, we examine the balance between the relay hop count and
the tour length of a mobile Base Station (BS). We propose two heuristic algorithms, Adjacent Tree-Bounded Hop Algorithm (AT-
BHA) and Farthest Node First-Bounded Hop Algorithm (FNF-BHA), to reduce energy consumption of sensor nodes. The proposed
algorithms select groups of Collection Trees (CTs) and a subset of Collection Location (CL) sensor nodes to buffer and forward
data to the mobile BS when it arrives. Each CL node receives sensing data from its CT nodes within bounded hop count. Extensive
experiments by simulation are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms against another heuristic. We
demonstrate that the proposed algorithms outperform the existing work with the mean of the length of mobile BS tour.

1. Introduction multihop forwarding, the increased latency of data gathering

when employing mobile BS presents a major performance
Data gathering in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is one bottleneck. Consequently, the time a mobile BS takes to
of the most frequent and fundamental operations, which tour a large sensing field may not meet the stringent delay
requires the sensor nodes to monitor the sensing field for requirements inherent in some mission-critical, real-time
as long as possible. As sensor nodes have limited energy applications. Therefore, planning the tour of mobile BS needs
resources and are powered by small batteries, energy con- to be considered in order to achieve the delay requirements.
sumption is a critical issue in the design of WSNs that affect Generally, the mobility of BS can be classified into three
the energy consumption of sensor nodes and hence the types, according to the mobility pattern of the entity upon
network lifetime. which the BS is mounted, as follows:
Recent research [1–5] shows that significant energy saving
can be achieved in wireless sensor networks by using mobile (1) Random mobility: this can be achieved, for example,
devices capable of carrying data mechanically. Mobile Base when the BS is mounted on humans and animals.
Stations (BSs) are proposed to reduce energy consumption In this case, the probability of the BS collecting all
by allowing a mobile BS to roam a sensing field and gather sensing data is low since the BS opportunistically
data from sensor nodes through a short transmission range. visits sensor nodes [6].
The energy consumption of each sensor node is then reduced, (2) Predictable mobility: in this case, the BS is mounted
since fewer relays are needed for the sensor node to relay on an entity that moves on a fixed track or path that
its data packet to the BS. As the speed of mobile BS is very cannot control its direction or speed, but which moves
slow compared with the speed of data packets, which travel in at a regular time, for example, a BS mounted on a bus
2 Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

or train. Thus, the sensor nodes can predict when the on a straight line (a fixed path). They employed a directed
BS may move around to send their data [7, 8]. diffusion approach to gathering sensed data from the sensor
(3) Controlled mobility: when the BS is mounted on a nodes beyond the transmission range of the mobile BS.
robot or UAV plane, then the direction and speed Some existing studies assume that sensor nodes can cache
of the BS can be controlled. Many algorithms are sensing data of other nodes in order to forward it to the
proposed to find the tour of the BS in order to achieve mobile BS when the BS moves around. Gao and Zhang [11]
requirements such as maximised network lifetime and Xing et al. [16] explored the delay requirement for data
and data-gathering delay using single and multihop gathering assuming that the sensor nodes have an ability to
relays [3, 5, 9]. cache sensing data of other nodes. In [11] sensor nodes send
their data through multihop relays to the nodes (subsink)
Most literature studies the mobility of WSNs to be located within the direct-transmission range of the mobile
predictable or controlled to achieve network performance BS. The subsink nodes cache data and send it to the mobile
requirements (some literature focused on random mobility to BS when it comes within transmission range. In [16], a
improve network lifetime). This differs from mobile ad hoc rendezvous-based data-gathering approach is proposed, in
networks in which nodes are assumed to move arbitrarily, which a subset of nodes is chosen as rendezvous points. The
which degrades the network performance by link failures. role of these points is to buffer and aggregate data originating
In this paper, we deal with the data gathering problem from sensor nodes. When the mobile BS arrives within the
with bounded delay time in sensor network using a controlled transmission range of rendezvous points, the data will be
mobile BS, by exploring a balance between the relay hop forwarded to the mobile BS. Kaswanet et al. [17] proposed
count required for data relay and tour length of the mobile BS path plan algorithm for data collection by selecting set of
such that the energy consumption is minimized. Specifically, rendezvous points. The algorithm minimize the tour length
we assume the mobile BS selected a set of Collection Location by reducing the number of rendezvous points by selecting the
(CL) nodes that temporarily cache and forward sensing data position closest to the location of the BS and allows the BS to
of other nodes. The sensor nodes are grouped into Collection collect data from maximum number of sensors via single hop
Trees (CTs) rooted at CLs. Each node has to forward its data communication. This algorithm does not consider a bounded
to the CL within a certain number of relay hops. The mobile hop count for data collection.
BS traverses along a close tour and stops at each CL in the Grouping sensor nodes in the sensing field into clusters
tour for data gathering. and collecting data from cluster heads are proposed in [13–
Our major contributions, in this paper, are as follows. 15]. Ma and Yang [13] proposed a heuristic for finding routing
We propose two efficient heuristic algorithms: Adjacent Tree- paths for the mobile BS, which assumes that the moving path
Bounded Hop Algorithm (AT-BHA) and Farthest Node First- of the mobile BS consists of a series of line segments. Sensor
Bounded Hop Algorithm (FNF-BHA). The algorithms find nodes closest to each line segment are selected as cluster
the tour of the mobile BS consisting of CLs which meet the heads. A specified configuration is applied, where the mobile
following criteria: (i) the energy consumption among the BS starts data gathering from the left side of the path, moves
sensor nodes is balanced in order to prolong nodes lifetime; towards the right side, and then comes back to the left side
(ii) the total traversal time of the mobile BS on the tour again. This scheme maximizes network lifetime. However, it
is minimized; and (iii) the hop count between any sensor may cause packet losses at each cluster head if the path length
node and the CL is bounded by a given value. The AT-BHA to the cluster head is too long, since the time required for the
constructs adjacent CTs by finding closest nodes to the last cluster head to send the data of cluster nodes to the BS is not
constructed CL. The FNF-BHA uses the farthest node from considered in cluster forming. Saad et al. [14] proposed path
the BS in the construction of CL. Load balancing algorithm is planning algorithm for mobile BS that visit a set of cluster
proposed to balance the number of nodes in the CTs. Finally, heads. Nodes are randomly grouped to form clusters and the
the performance of the proposed algorithms is evaluated node with the largest residual energy is selected as the cluster
through experimental simulations. The experimental results head. The clusters are merged, ensuring that the number of
demonstrate that the proposed algorithms are efficient. hops from the cluster head to any cluster node is no more
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. than two hops. The cluster head gathers and buffers cluster
Section 2 reviews the related work on mobile data gathering. sensing data. The BS visits the cluster heads to gather data
Section 3 presents two algorithms to solve data gathering through single-hop communication. However, this work does
with bounded hop count problem. Section 4 evaluates the not consider data gathering delay for the mobile BS. Zhang et
efficiency of the proposed algorithms through extensive al. [15] extended the work in [16] and regarded cluster heads
simulations. Finally, Section 5 concludes the paper. as the rendezvous point. They considered event based data
gathering and proposed reduction in data gathering delay
2. Related Work by only allowing the mobile BS to visit cluster heads that
generate new data.
There is an extensive range of literature studying the use Bounded hop count for data gathering is studied in [4,
of mobile BS for data gathering [4, 5, 9–15]. Kansal et al. 5, 18, 19]. Zhao and Yang [5] proposed SPT-DGA and BRH-
[12] combine multihop forwarding with a mobile BS. They MDG data gathering algorithms that select set of CL for the
performed an experimental evaluation for a small sensor mobile BS to visit for data gathering. Each CL aggregates
network, assuming that a mobile BS moves back and forth the local data from its affiliated sensors within a certain
Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing 3

number of relay hops. However, the number of nodes in 2.1. Preliminaries and Problem. We consider a wireless sensor
the constructed CT is small. Consequently, many CTs are network 𝐺 = (𝑉, 𝐸) consisting of 𝑛 = |𝑉| stationary sensors
constructed for data gathering. Thus, the length of the BS and 𝐸 is the set of links. There is a link between two sensors
tour increased. Chen et al. [19] analysed and improved the or a sensor and the BS if they are within the transmission
BRH-MDG algorithm by minimizing the degree of the CTs in range of each other. For the sake of simplicity, we assume
order to prolong the network lifetime. Xu et al. [4] proposed the transmission range of each sensor node and the BS are
heuristic algorithm to find the tour for a mobile BS consists fixed and identical, and all sensor nodes have identical initial
of CL nodes. However, the algorithm does not consider the energy. The storage of a sensor node is limited, so that it
effect of some critical sensor nodes on the separation of cannot buffer a large volume of data. Sensor nodes are densely
other nodes. These critical nodes affect the location of CLs deployed in the sensing region. Accordingly, the number of
and hence the length of the mobile BS. The hop count and hops in a path is approximately proportional to the distance
hop distance are used to plan the route of the mobile BS between the nodes. The BS moves with constant velocity.
in [18]. In this work, set of rendezvous points are selected Thus, there is sufficient time to establish communication
such that the mobile BS can collect data from the sensor and send one or more data packets during the time the
nodes within a permissible delay with minimum possible
BS takes to travel across the transmission range of a sensor
hop distance and hop counts. However, this work does not
node. We further assume the mobile BS replenishes its energy
consider minimizing the BS tour length.
periodically so there is no energy concern with the mobile BS.
Dividing sensing field into subareas is proposed in [20,
21]. Chen et al. [20] introduced algorithm to improve the Finally, sensor nodes and the mobile BS are assumed to know
network lifetime considering data transmission delay and their own physical locations via GPS or a location service in
number of hops. The algorithm divided the sensing field the network.
into grids; the mobile sink has to stay at the grid center Problem. Given a network with a mobile BS and assum-
for data collection. However, this work assumes the sensor ing that the number of hops for data gathering between the
nodes send data to the BS only when the hop count between BS and sensor nodes is bounded by ℎ, the problem is to
the sensor and the BS is at or below a specific hop count. find the shortest tour for the mobile BS such that the energy
Otherwise the sensor enters a sleeping state. In addition, the consumption among the sensor nodes is balanced.
hop count is estimated using the distance between the sensor
nodes and the BS which is not accurate at low node density 3. Proposed Heuristic Algorithms
(node degree less than six). A delay bound path algorithm is
proposed in [21]. The algorithm divided the sensing field into Due to the NP-hardness of this problem [5], a heuristic
hexagonal cells whose centers are considered as the positions algorithm is proposed in this paper. In order to find the
of rendezvous point. The algorithm minimizes the number optimal CLs among sensors, relay routing paths and the tour
of rendezvous point by selecting the location that covers of the mobile BS should jointly be considered. Based on
as many number of sensor nodes and at minimal distance these observations, we deal with the tour length minimization
from the center. Data gathering within bounded hop count problem by devising scalable heuristic algorithms. In this
is also studied in [22]. The authors proposed reducing the section, we proposed two algorithms: the Adjacent Tree-
number of collection points by selection of the CL within the Bounded Hop Algorithm (AT-BHA) and the Farthest Node
convergence area that overlaps maximum number of sensor First-Bounded Hop Algorithm (FNF-BHA). Table 1 shows
nodes. However, the work in [21, 22] does not consider the the main symbols used in the proposed algorithms.
effect of isolated sensor nodes on the tour length of the BS.
Other literature involved sensor node residual energy and 3.1. Adjacent Tree-Bounded Hop Algorithm (AT-BHA). The
bounded hop count in the construction of the data gathering basic idea of AT-BHA algorithm is to find a set of CLs in the
trees [2, 23]. Zhu et al. [23] suggested assigning weight for network that the BS can visit to collect sensing data of all the
each node based on nodes residual energy, distance to the BS sensors. Visiting CLs in specific order determines the length
and number of hops. The weight is used to select rendezvous of the tour of the mobile BS. The value of ℎ determines the
points for data collection. Jerew and Al Bassam [2] examined delay on data delivery and affects the number of sensor nodes
the sensor nodes residual energy to select a set of cluster heads contained in each tree and, hence, the number of CLs. For
with high residual energy and bounded hop count. Sensor example, if ℎ = 1 the number of CLs is equal to the number
node sends its data within bounded hop count to the cluster of sensor nodes and the BS tour is the longest tour as the BS
head and the BS visits all the cluster heads for data gathering. has to visit each node for one hop data collection.
Chang and Shen [24] introduced a cluster routing structure, In any network, the node degree (number of neighbor
to decide the routing path based on the location of BS, the nodes) significantly affects the network connectivity. As
distances between the sensor nodes, and the residual energy the node degree 𝑑 < 6, there is a high probability of
of each sensor node. The closest node to the BS with residual partitioned networks [25]. The first task of AT-BHA as shown
energy more than the average network residual energy is in Algorithm 1 is to construct Minimum Spanning Trees
selected as cluster head. The proposed algorithm reduced (MSTs) that cover all sensors in the network. Each sensor
the energy consumption and extended the sensor lifetime node associated in a single MST referred to as 𝑇𝑃 . Thus,
by balancing the network load. However, this work did not the AT-BHA can be applied to connected and disconnected
consider data gathering within a bounded hop count. networks.
4 Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

Input: A sensor network 𝐺(𝑉, 𝐸), hop cout ℎ, 𝑟, 𝛽

Output: Set of CL nodes V𝐶𝐿 , 𝐵𝑇𝐶
(1) 𝑁𝐺 ←󳨀 𝑉 ; /∗set of nodes in the network ∗/;
(2) 𝑘 = 0 ;
(3) 𝑗 = 0 ;
(4) while 𝑁𝐺 is not empty do
(5) Find the closest vertex V𝑐 to the BS position from 𝑁𝐺 ;
(6) Find an MST 𝑇𝑃 that covers vertices from 𝑁𝐺 ;
(7) 𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑇𝑃; /∗ set of nodes in partition tree 𝑇𝑃 ∗/ ;
(8) while 𝑁𝑃 is not empty do
(9) Find the farthest leave vertex V𝑓 in 𝑇𝑃 ;
(10) Find the routing path 𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 ) ;
(11) if ℎ ≥ |𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 )| then
(12) V𝐶𝐿 ←󳨀 V𝑐 ;
(13) else
(14) V𝐶𝐿 ←󳨀 vertex from 𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 ) at ℎ hops from V𝑓 ;
(15) 𝑗=𝑗+1 ;
(16) Find an MST 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ (V𝐶𝐿 , 𝑁𝑃 ) ;
(17) 𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑃 − 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ ;
(18) if 𝑁𝑃 is empty then
(19) break;
(20) Find 𝑛𝑓 node that with 𝑀𝑎𝑥.{𝑑(𝑁𝑃, V𝑐 )/𝑑(𝑁𝑃, V𝐶𝐿 )} ;
(21) Find 𝑁𝑐𝑟 set of nodes with 𝑑(𝑁𝑃 , 𝑛𝑓 ) ≤ ℎ𝑟𝛽 ; /∗ nodes within a circle of ℎ𝑟𝛽 radius /∗ ;
(22) Find the closest vertex V𝑛 to V𝑐 from 𝑁𝑐𝑟 ;
(23) 𝑗=𝑗+1 ;
(24) V𝐶𝐿 ←󳨀 V𝑛 ; /∗ set V𝑛 as a CL ∗/ ;
(25) Find an MST 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ (V𝐶𝐿, 𝑁𝑃 ) ;
(26) 𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑃 − 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ ;
(27) (𝑇𝐶, 𝑁𝑃 )=Update CT(V𝐶𝐿,𝑗,𝑁𝑃 ,𝑇𝐶,𝑇𝑃) ;
(28) 𝑁𝐺 ←󳨀 𝑁𝐺 − 𝑁𝑃
(29) [𝐵𝑇𝐶, V𝐶𝐿 ]=Call LBA(V𝐶𝐿 ) ;

Algorithm 1: The Adjacent Tree-Bounded Hop Algorithm (AT-BHA).

Table 1: Definitions of the main symbols used throughout the The root of the MST is selected at sensor node V𝑐 that is
algorithms. the closest to the location of the BS. We set the root close to
the BS in order to select CLs as close as possible to each other
Symbol Description and close to the BS initial position.
𝑉 Set of network nodes The next task of AT-BHA is to find the farthest node, V𝑓 ,
𝛽 Between -1 and 1, to calculate hop progress from the BS position in the partition tree. The routing path
𝜏 Threshold value to decide tree update between the farthest node and root of 𝑇𝑃 is referred to as
ℎ Number of hops 𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 ) and it is used to find the candidate CL node. We
𝑇𝑃 assume the set of nodes in 𝑅 is sorted in decreasing order
Set of nodes in a partition tree
according to the number of hops to V𝑐 . In the case of the
Root node of the MST that is closest to the location
V𝑐 number of nodes in the routing path being less than ℎ, then
of BS
the root of the 𝑇𝑃 tree is selected as V𝐶𝐿 . While the node at ℎ
V𝑓 Farthest node from the BS hop away from the V𝑓 is selected as V𝐶𝐿 if the route length is
𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 ) Set of nodes in the routing path between V𝑓 and V𝑐 higher than ℎ.
V𝐶𝐿 Set of the collection location nodes The Breath-First-Search (BFS) algorithm with bounded
𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ Set of nodes contained in the partial 𝑗th tree within ℎ hop count is used to find the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST)
hops away from the root rooted at the CL. A partial BFS tree is constructed hop by hop,
𝑁𝑃 Set of the nodes at network partition tree and the expansion continues until all nodes within ℎ hops are
𝑑(V1 , V2 ) Euclidean distance between vertices V1 and V2 explored. The set of sensors contained in the partial 𝑗th tree
𝑛𝑓 Farthest node to the BS and closest to the 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ tree is referred to as 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ . The set of the nodes covered in the 𝑗th
CT is removed from the set of partition tree nodes, 𝑁𝑃 .
𝑟 Transmission range of a sensor node
In this algorithm, we propose to find the next CT adjacent
𝑁𝑟 Set of nodes to be removed from a tree to the last constructed tree in order to avoid partitioned node
Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing 5

Input: V𝐶𝐿 , 𝑗, 𝑁𝑃 , 𝑇𝐶, 𝑇𝑃 , 𝜏

Output: 𝑇𝐶,𝑁𝑃
(1) if V𝐶𝐿 is the first time for check then
(2) 𝑁𝐶𝐿 ←󳨀 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ ;
(3) if |𝑁𝐶𝐿|/𝑑(V𝐶𝐿, V𝑐 ) ≤ 𝜏 then
(4) Find the routing path 𝑅(V𝐶𝐿, V𝑐 ) using partition tree 𝑇𝑃 ;
(5) if ℎ ≥ |𝑅(V𝐶𝐿, V𝑐 )| then
(6) 𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑃 ∪ 𝑅(V𝐶𝐿 , V𝑐 ) ;
(7) V𝐶𝐿 ←󳨀 V𝑐 ;
(8) else
(9) Find vertex Vℎ from 𝑅(V𝐶𝐿 , V𝑐 ) at ℎ hops from V𝐶𝐿 ;
(10) 𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑃 ∪ 𝑅(V𝐶𝐿, Vℎ ) ;
(11) V𝐶𝐿 ←󳨀 Vℎ ;
(12)
(13) Find an MST 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ (V𝐶𝐿 , 𝑁𝑃 ) ; /∗ Update the j-th tree∗/ ;
(14) 𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑃 − 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ ;
(15) Return(𝑇𝐶,𝑁𝑃)

Algorithm 2: Update CT.

between the CTs. The partitioned node increases the tour 3.2. Farthest Node First-Bounded Hop Algorithm (FNF-BHA).
length since the BS has to visit the node for data collection. To This algorithm constructs CTs to include the farthest nodes
find an adjacent tree to the 𝑗𝑡ℎ tree, the algorithm calculates to the BS. The FNF-BHA starts similar to AT-BHA by finding
the ratio 𝛼 = 𝑑(𝑁𝑃, V𝑐 )/𝑑(𝑁𝑃, V𝐶𝐿 ). The 𝑑(V1 , V2 ) represents the nodes closest to the position of the BS and construction
Euclidean distance between vertices V1 and V2 . The node from partitions trees. It then finds the route of data packets to V𝑓
𝑁𝑃 with maximum 𝛼 is selected and referred to as 𝑛𝑓 . This in the current partition tree to determine the CL node. The
node represents the farthest node to BS and closest to the nodes involved in the data relay between V𝑓 and the collection
𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ . The closest node to the BS that is within the distance node are critical for data gathering from V𝑓 . In the case of
ℎ𝑟𝛽 from 𝑛𝑓 is selected as the second V𝐶𝐿, where 𝑟 is the any of the relay node participating in another CT, the BS
sensor transmission range and 𝛽 between −1 and 1. The value has to visit V𝑓 for data collection increasing the tour length.
𝑟𝛽 represents the hop progress and its ranges from −𝑟 to Therefore, in this case, the algorithm first identifies and then
𝑟 depend on the network node density [25]. New MST is removes all the relay nodes from other CTs by calling the
constructed rooted at V𝐶𝐿 to find set of nodes within ℎ hops.
Node Removal Algorithm (NRA) as shown in Algorithm 3.
The number of nodes within each tree and the position
The set of removed nodes is used in the construction of new
of the CL nodes have a signification effect on the tour length.
When the CT consists of many nodes, a less number of CLs CTs at the next iteration.
are required and the tour length decreases. In addition, the The algorithm tests whether the CL node is already
tour length is also decreased as the selected CLs are close selected as CL of another tree. In this rare case, the set of CT
to the BS. To improve the tree size and location of V𝐶𝐿, the nodes are merged with that tree and new CT is constructed.
Update CT algorithm is proposed in Algorithm 2. The new tree includes all the nodes of previous CT in addition
In the Update CT algorithm, the ratio of the number of to V𝑓 , since all the relay nodes are available in the set of
tree nodes to the distance between the V𝐶𝐿 and V𝑐 is used nodes, whereas, if the CL node is not selected, a new CT
as a measure of tree usefulness. A threshold value, 𝜏, is is constructed with a new tree index to include V𝑓 . The
used to decide the updating of the CT. The range of 𝜏 is algorithm is terminated when all the partitioned tree nodes
(1/𝑑(𝐿 𝐵𝑆 , 𝑁𝐹), 𝑛/𝑑(𝐿 𝐵𝑆 , V𝐵𝑆 )), where 𝑛 is the network nodes, are covered.
and 𝐿 𝐵𝑆 , V𝐵𝑆 , and 𝑁𝐹 are, respectively, the position of BS, the We now describe NRA algorithm in more detail. The
closest node to the BS, and the farthest node to the BS. pseudocode is given in Algorithm 4. In order to remove the
In order to avoid infinite looping, the algorithm first set of nodes in 𝑁𝑟 from the CTs, the tree index of each node
checks whether the CT is previously updated since in some needs to be found first. The set of nodes that need to be
cases it is impossible to update the tree because of limited removed from each CT are identified and removed. A new CT
number of nodes. In the case the CT needs to update, the is reconstructed after node removal. In some cases, some of
routing path between V𝐶𝐿 and V𝑐 is used to select a new CL the tree nodes, 𝑁𝑜 , are partitioned, since the removed nodes
node. 𝑁𝑃 is updated by including the set of CT nodes and the provide a relay path for them. 𝑁𝑜 may be covered by other
set of routing nodes to the selected V𝐶𝐿. Finally, the updated CTs. Therefore, all the CTs are reconstructed considering 𝑁𝑜 .
CT is constructed and returns the updated CT and 𝑁𝑃 to the If a node is associated with CT, the node is removed from 𝑁𝑜 .
AT-BHA algorithm. The AT-BHA algorithm continues until The algorithm continues until all the nodes in 𝑁𝑟 are removed
all the network nodes are associated with CTs. from the CTs.
6 Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

Input: A sensor network 𝐺(𝑉, 𝐸), hop cout ℎ

Output: Set of CL nodes V𝐶𝐿 , 𝐵𝑇𝐶
(1) 𝑁𝐺 ←󳨀 𝑉 ;/∗set of nodes in the network∗/ ;
(2) while 𝑁𝐺 is not empty do
(3) Find the closest vertex V𝑐 to the BS position from 𝑁𝐺 ;
(4) Find an MST 𝑇𝑝 that covers vertices from 𝑁𝐺 ;
(5) 𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑇𝑃 ; set of nodes in partition tree Tp ;
(6) while 𝑁𝑃 is not empty do
(7) Flag ←󳨀 false ; /∗no node need to remove from any tree ;
(8) Find the farthest leave vertex V𝑓 to V𝑐 on 𝑇𝑝 ;
(9) Find the routing path 𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 ) ;
(10) if ℎ ≥ |𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 )| then
(11) V𝐶𝐿 ←󳨀 V𝑐 ;
(12) else
(13) V𝐶𝐿 ←󳨀 vertex from 𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 ) at ℎ hops from V𝑓 ;
(14) 𝑁𝑟 ←󳨀 set of nodes in 𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐𝐿 ) not in 𝑁𝑃 ;
(15) if 𝑁𝑟 is not empty then
(16) Flag ←󳨀 true ;
(17) 𝑁𝑟𝑚 = NRA(𝑁𝑟 , 𝑁𝑃 ) ; /∗ call Node Removal Algorithm ∗/
𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑃 ∪ 𝑁𝑟𝑚 ;
(18) if Flag= false then
(19) if V𝐶𝐿 selected as 𝐶𝐿 then
(20) 𝑗 =index of tree rooted on VC𝐿 ;
(21) 𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑃 ∪ 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ ; ;
(22) else
(23) select V𝐶𝐿 as Collection Location ;
(24) 𝑗= 𝑗+1 ;
(25)
(26) Find an MST 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ (V𝐶𝐿, 𝑁𝑃 ) ;
(27) 𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑃 − 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ ;
(28) 𝑁𝐺 ←󳨀 𝑁𝐺 − 𝑁𝑃 ;
(29) [V𝐶𝐿 ,𝐵𝑇𝐶]=Call LBA(V𝐶𝐿 ) ;

Algorithm 3: The Farthest Node First-Bounded Hop Algorithm (FNF-BHA).

Input: A sensor network 𝐺(𝑉, 𝐸), hop cout ℎ, 𝑁𝑟 , 𝑁𝑃

Output: 𝑁𝑟 , 𝑇𝐶
(1) 𝐼𝑋 ←󳨀 set of tree index of all CTs ;
(2) 𝐼𝑋𝑟𝑡 ←󳨀 set of tree index of all 𝑁𝑟 nodes ;
(3) 𝑁𝑟𝑚 ←󳨀 𝜙 ;
(4) 𝑁𝑜 ←󳨀 𝜙 ;
(5) for each 𝑗 in 𝐼𝑋𝑟𝑡 do
(6) 𝑁𝑟𝑡 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑟 ∩ 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ ∗/ Set of nodes to remove from the j-th tree ∗/ ;
(7) 𝑁𝑛𝑡 ←󳨀 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ − 𝑁𝑟𝑡 ;∗/ Set of node of the j-th tree after node removel ∗/ ;
(8) get V𝐶𝐿 from tree 𝑗 ;
(9) Find an MST 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ (V𝐶𝐿 , 𝑁𝑛𝑡 ) ;
(10) 𝑁𝑃 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑛𝑡 − 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ ;∗/ Set of partitioned nodes ∗/ ;
(11) 𝑁𝑜 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑜 ∪ 𝑁𝑃 ;
(12) if 𝑁𝑜 is not empty then
(13) for each tree index 𝑘 in 𝐼𝑋 do
(14) get V𝐶𝐿 for tree 𝑘 ;
(15) 𝑛𝑡 ←󳨀 𝑇𝐶𝑘,ℎ ;
(16) 𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑡 ←󳨀 𝑇𝐶𝑘,ℎ ∪ 𝑁𝑜 ;
(17) Find an MST 𝑇𝐶𝑘,ℎ (V𝐶𝐿 , 𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑡 ) ;
(18) 𝑁𝑑𝑖𝑓 ←󳨀 𝑇𝐶𝑘,ℎ − 𝑛𝑡 ;
(19) 𝑁𝑜 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑜 − 𝑁𝑑𝑖𝑓 ;
(20) 𝑁𝑟𝑚 ←󳨀 𝑁𝑟𝑚 ∪ 𝑁𝑟𝑡 ∪ 𝑁𝑜 ;
(21) Return(𝑁𝑟𝑚 ) ;

Algorithm 4: Node Removal Algorithm (NRA).

Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing 7

Input: A sensor network 𝐺(𝑉, 𝐸), hop cout ℎ, tree index 𝑗, 𝑇𝐶

Output: Set of CL nodes 𝐶𝐿, 𝐵𝑇𝐶
(1) [𝐵𝑇𝐶,𝑃𝑁]=Call CTBA(𝐺, 𝑇𝐶) ;
(2) while 𝑃𝑁 is not empty do
(3) 𝑇𝐶 = 𝐵𝑇𝐶 ; copy all the CTs to 𝑇𝐶 ;
(4) 𝑗 ←󳨀 number of trees in 𝑇𝐶 ;
(5) Find the farthest leave vertex V𝑓 from 𝑃𝑁 using 𝑇𝑃 ;
(6) Find the routing path 𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 ) ;
(7) if ℎ ≥ |𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 )| then
(8) V𝐶𝐿 ←󳨀 V𝑐 ;
(9) 𝑅𝑛 ←󳨀 |𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 )| ;
(10) else
(11) V𝐶𝐿 ←󳨀 vertex from 𝑅(V𝑓 , V𝑐 ) at ℎ hops from V𝑓 ;
(12) 𝑅𝑛 ←󳨀 nodes at ℎ hops from 𝑉𝑓 ;
(13) 𝑃𝑁 ←󳨀 𝑃𝑁 ∪ 𝑅𝑛 ;
(14) 𝑗 =𝑗+1 ;
(15) Find an MST 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ (V𝐶𝐿 , 𝑃𝑁) ;
(16) 𝑃𝑁 ←󳨀 𝑃𝑁 − 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ ;
(17) [𝐵𝑇𝐶,𝑃𝑁]=Call CTBA(𝐺, 𝑇𝐶) ;
(18) Return(𝐶𝐿, 𝐵𝑇𝐶) ;

Algorithm 5: Load balanced algorithm (LBA).

Input: A sensor network 𝐺(𝑉; 𝐸), Set of CTs 𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ , hop count ℎ
Output: set of balanced CTs 𝐵𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ , Remain Nodes 𝑃𝑁
(1) 𝐾 ←󳨀 number of CL nodes ;
(2) 𝑁𝐺 ←󳨀 𝑉 ;/∗ set of nodes in the network ∗/ ;
(3) 𝑁𝐺𝐵 ←󳨀 𝑁𝐺 ;
(4) 𝐵𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ𝑐 {𝑗 = 1 : 𝐾, ℎ𝑐 = 1 : ℎ} ←󳨀 𝜙 ;
(5) Sort 𝑇𝐶𝑗 trees in increasing order according to the number of nodes in each tree ;
(6) 𝑁𝐺𝐵 = 𝑁𝐺 − V𝐶𝐿 // remove CL nodes from testing nodes ;
(7) for hc= 1 to h do
(8) for each V𝐶𝐿 do
(9) 𝑗 =𝑗+1 ;
(10) if ℎ𝑐 > 1 then
(11) 𝑁𝐺𝐵 = 𝑁𝐺𝐵 ∪ 𝐵𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ𝑐−1 ;
(12) Find an MST 𝐵𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ𝑐 (V𝐶𝐿, 𝑁𝐺𝐵) ;
(13) 𝑁𝐺𝐵 = 𝑁𝐺𝐵 − 𝐵𝑇𝐶𝑗,ℎ𝑐 /∗ remove tree nodes from testing nodes ∗/ ;
(14) 𝑃𝑁 = 𝑁𝐺 − 𝑁𝐺𝐵 ;
(15) Return(𝐵𝑇𝐶,𝑃𝑁) ;

Algorithm 6: CT balanced algorithm (CTBA).

3.3. Load Balancing and Further Improvement. The proposed the number of nodes in order to start constructing the CT
algorithms AT-BHA and FNF-BHA can be further improved with the minimum number of nodes. The algorithm gradually
by balancing the number of nodes in the CTs. The proposed constructs all the CTs by finding the nodes with one hop from
algorithms find the set of CL nodes to collect data from sensor the CL nodes. Then the number of nodes in the CTs increases
nodes within ℎ hops. However, there are large differences with the hop count. In some cases, some nodes does not
between the number of nodes in the CTs. In particular, the associate to any tree since they are partitioned as the relaying
first constructed tree covers the maximum number of nodes, nodes are associated to other CTs. Finally, the LBA returns
while the last tree covers only the remaining set of nodes. the balanced CTs (BTC) and partitioned nodes (PN). When
Thus, we proposed the load balanced algorithm (LBA) there is no PN the algorithm finalizes the BTC and no further
with the pseudocode given in Algorithm 5. First, the algo- process is required. However, a new set of V𝐶𝐿 needs to be
rithm balanced the number of nodes for each CT using the selected from the PN for data collection. This is achieved by
CT balanced algorithm (CTBA) shown in Algorithm 6. The finding the farthest node V𝑓 to the BS from PN. The routing
CTBA first sorts the CTs in increasing order according to path between V𝑓 and closest node to the BS is used to find
8 Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

the V𝐶𝐿 at ℎ hops. A new CT is constructed and rooted at V𝐶𝐿 4500

Tour Length with Hop Count
to cover PN nodes. Finally, the algorithm rebalanced the load
by calling the LBA. The LBA is terminated when there is no 4000
partition node in the PN. 3500
3000

Tour Length, m
4. Performance Evaluation 2500
In this section, we evaluate the performance of the proposed 2000
algorithms through simulations. We assume that sensor 1500
nodes in the network are randomly deployed with uniform
1000
distribution in a 400 𝑚 × 400 𝑚 square sensing field. Each
sensor node has a transmission range of 𝑟 = 25 𝑚. We 500
first vary the hop count to evaluate the performance of the 0
algorithms. We also vary the number of nodes in the network 2 3 4 5 6
to emulate the change in the node degree. The node degree is Hop count, h
used as a metric of node density. We compare our algorithms SPT−DGA
with the SPT-DGA algorithm proposed in [5]. For the AT- FNF−BHA
BHA, we set 𝛽 = 0.5 and 𝜏 = 0.1. For each instance of AT−BHA
deployment, the network performance metrics are calculated, Figure 1: The tour length of the mobile BS with the hop count for
and the result is the average over 500 instances for each node the SPT-DGA, FNF-BHA and AT-BHA algorithms, for 𝑑 = 12.
degree and hop count.
We adopt the nearest neighbor algorithm [26] in our
simulation for the travelling salesman problem to determine Max. Number of Nodes with Hop Count
180
the tour of the mobile BS. In order to calculate the energy
consumption of CL in transmitting CT sensors data to the 160
BS on wireless communication per time unit, we adopt the
Max. Number of Nodes

140
energy model [2], 𝐸𝐶𝐶𝐿 (𝐶𝐿) = 𝑟𝑎 ⋅ 𝐿 𝑅 ⋅ (𝑁𝑇𝐶𝐿 + 1) ⋅ 𝐸𝑡 ,
120
where 𝐸𝐶𝐶𝐿 (𝐶𝐿) is the energy consumption of CL, 𝑟𝑎 is data
generation rate, 𝐿 𝑅 is the length of single data reading, and 100
𝑁𝑇𝐶𝐿 is the number of sensors the CL node has to forward
80
their data to the BS. 𝐸𝑡 is the amount of power consumed
by transmitting a unit-length of data. 𝐸𝑡 can be represented 60
by 𝐸𝑡 = 𝛼1 + 𝛼2 𝑟𝛾 , where 𝛼1 is a constant that represents 40
the energy consumption to run the transmitter circuitry
which is negligibly small, 𝛼2 is a constant that represents the 20
2 3 4 5 6
transmitter amplifier, and 𝑟 is the transmission range. The
Hop count, h
exponent 𝛾 is determined by the field measurements, which
is typically a constant between 2 and 4. In this simulation we SPT−DGA
assume 𝑟𝑎 = 1 𝐾𝑏𝑝𝑠, 𝐿 𝑅 = 1𝐾𝑏, 𝛼1 = 0, 𝛼2 = 150 𝑛𝐽/𝑏𝑖𝑡/𝑚2 , FNF−BHA
AT−BHA
and 𝛾 = 2.
Figure 2: The maximum number of nodes in the CT with the hop
4.1. Varying Hop Count. We first study the effect of changing count for the SPT-DGA, FNF-BHA and AT-BHA algorithms, for 𝑑 =
the hop count on the network performance. Figure 1 plots 12.
the performance of our algorithms and the SPT-DGA in
terms of tour length and hop count, ℎ. When ℎ is small,
the number of nodes within each CT is small and thus the in our algorithms are significantly less than that in SPT-DGA;
number of CLs increased, which increases the length of the this is because the proposed algorithms try to construct CTs
mobile BS. The result also shows that the tour length in with maximum number of nodes by finding routes to the
the FNF-BHA algorithm is the shortest since the FNF-BHA partition nodes and adjacent CTs.
algorithm considered the farthest nodes. The CL consumes more energy than any other network
The maximum number of nodes in the CTs with the nodes since it has to forward the sensing data of the CT to the
number of hops is shown in Figure 2. The result shows that BS. Figure 4 illustrates the maximum energy consumption
as the hop count increases the number of nodes in the CTs of CL for forwarding sensing data of a single sensor node
increased. This makes sense as increasing the number of hops by dividing the total energy consumption of the CL to the
added extra nodes to the CTs. The result also shows that number of sensors in the CT. The result shows that the energy
the number of nodes in the CTs constructed by SPT-DGA consumption decreases with the hop count as the number of
algorithm is always less than that in our algorithms. nodes in the CT increased with hop count. The result also
We also study the number of CLs with the hop count as shows that the energy consumption of the CL at FNF-BHC
shown in Figure 3. The result shows that the numbers of CLs algorithm is lower that other algorithms since the FNF-BHC
Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing 9

No. of Collection Locations with Hop Count Max. Distance with Hop Count
140 140

120 120
No. of Collection Locations

100 100

Max. Distance, m
80 80

60 60

40 40

20 20

0 0
2 3 4 5 6 2 3 4 5 6
Hop count, h Hop count, h

SPT−DGA SPT−DGA
FNF−BHA FNF−BHA
AT−BHA AT−BHA
Figure 3: The number of CLs with the hop count for the SPT-DGA, Figure 5: The maximum distance between the CL and the farthest
FNF-BHA and AT-BHA algorithms, for 𝑑 = 12. sensor node with the hop count for the SPT-DGA, FNF-BHA, and
AT-BHA algorithms, for 𝑑 = 12.

Max. Energy Consumption of CL Per Sensor with Hop Count

100
Collection Locations and Collection Trees for SPT−DGA
Max. Energy Consumption of CL Per Sensor, J

200
99

150
98

97 100

96
50

95

0
94 0 50 100 150 200
2 3 4 5 6
Hop count, h Figure 6: An example illustrates the CLs and CTs constructed using
SPT-DGA for a network of 244 sensors. The tour length is equal to
SPT_DGA 599.2 m with 15 CL nodes, ℎ = 4 and 𝑑 = 12.
FNF−BHC
AT−BHC
Figure 4: The maximum energy consumption of the CL sensor node
for forwarding sensing data of single sensor node with the hop count
which means that it is required for each sensor to forward
for the SPT-DGA, FNF-BHA, and AT-BHA algorithms, for 𝑑 = 12.
its data to the CL within four hops. The figures also show the
construction of CTs rooted at CLs for each algorithm.
The SPT-DGA constructs 15 routing trees for data collec-
algorithm constructed CTs with the maximum number of tion as shown in Figure 6. The CLs are selected very close to
nodes. the center of the sensing area in order to minimize the tour
The maximum distance between the CL and the farthest length. However, for the same sensors positions, the AT-BHA
sensor nodes is examined in Figure 5. The CLs selected by and FNF-BHA constructed 6 and 5 routing trees, respectively.
the AT-BHA are the closest to the sensor nodes since the AT- The position of the CLs selected in the FNF-BHA is closer to
BHA algorithm constructed adjacent trees using hop progress the center of the sensing field than that in AT-BHA.
𝛽𝑟 rather than dealing with the farthest nodes.
To better understand the results, we give examples in 4.2. Varying Node Degree. We then vary the node degree
Figures 6, 7, and 8 where 245 sensors are scattered over in the network by varying the number of network nodes
200 𝑚 × 200 𝑚 field (𝑑 = 12) with the initial position of according to 𝑛 = 𝑑 ∗ 𝐴/(𝜋 ∗ 𝑟2 ), where 𝐴 is the network
data BS located at the center of the area. The ℎ is set to 4, area and 𝑟 is the node transmission range.
10 Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

Collection Locations and Collection Trees for AT−BHA Tour Length with Node Degree
200
2500

150
2000

Tour Length, m
1500
100

1000
50
500

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 8 9 10 11 12
Node Degree, d
Figure 7: An example illustrates the CLs and CTs constructed using
AT-BHA for a network of 244 sensors. The tour length is equal to SPT−DGA
464.6 m with 6 CL nodes, ℎ = 4 and 𝑑 = 12. FNF−BHA
AT−BHA
Figure 9: The tour length of the mobile BS with the node degree for
Collection Locations and Collection Trees for FNF−BHA the SPT-DGA, AT-BHA and FNF-BHA algorithms, for ℎ = 4.
200

No. of Collection Locations with Node Degree

150 70

60
No. of Collection Locations

100 50

40

50 30

20
0
0 50 100 150 200 10

Figure 8: An example illustrates the CLs and CTs constructed using 0

FNF-BHA for a network of 244 sensors. The tour length is equal to 8 9 10 11 12
360.5 m with 5 CL nodes, ℎ = 4 and 𝑑 = 12. Node Degree, d

SPT−DGA
FNF−BHA
AT−BHA
To study the effect of the node degree on the tour
Figure 10: The number of CLs with the node degree for the SPT-
length, the tour of the mobile BS is calculated using the DGA, AT-BHA and FNF-BHA algorithms, for ℎ = 4.
nearest neighbor algorithm (as shown in Figure 9 for our
algorithms and the SPT-DGA algorithm). It can be seen that,
under different 𝑑, the tour length for AT-BHC and FNF-
BHA is shorter than that for the SPT-DGA algorithm. This Figure 12 shows the maximum energy consumption of the
is because the FNF-BHC selects the minimum number of CL for forwarding sensing data of a single sensor node to
CLs considering the farthest nodes to the position of the BS the BS. The result shows that the energy consumption slightly
while the SPT-DGA selects more CLs, which increases the decreases with the node degree. In addition, the CL at FNF-
length of mobile BS tour. The result also shows that the tour BHA consumes less energy than other algorithms since the
length slightly increases with the node degree in SPT-DGA. number of nodes at the CT of the FNF-BHA is more than
However, increasing the node degree reduced the tour length the number of nodes at the CTs of SPT-DGA and AT-BHA as
for the AT-BHA and FNF-BHA since that improves network shown in Figure 11.
connectivity and finding routing paths to the farthest nodes. We study the distance the packet travels to reach the BS
This reduces the number of CLs, as shown in Figure 10. by calculating the distance between the sensor nodes. The dis-
Figure 11 illustrates the maximum number of nodes in the tance between the farthest sensor node and the CL is shown
CTs with the node degree as a function of ℎ. The result shows in Figure 13. The result shows that the maximum distance is
that the number of nodes increases with the node degree since higher in SPT-DGA and FNF-BHA than in AT-BHA. This
that increases the number of neighbors. is because the expansion of CTs in AT-BHA depends on the
Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing 11

Max. Number of Nodes with Node Degree Max. Distance with Node Degree
120
90

100 80
70
Max. Number of Nodes

Max. Distance, m
80 60
50
60
40
40 30
20
20 10
0
0 8 9 10 11 12
8 9 10 11 12
Node Degree, d
Node Degree, d
SPT−DGA
SPT−DGA FNF−BHA
FNF−BHA AT−BHA
AT−BHA
Figure 13: The maximum distance between the CL and sensor nodes
Figure 11: The maximum number of nodes with the node degree for with the node degree for the SPT-DGA, AT-BHA, and FNF-BHA
the SPT-DGA, AT-BHA, and FNF-BHA algorithms, for ℎ = 4.
algorithms, for ℎ = 4.

Max. Energy Consumption of CL Per Sensor with Node Degree

100 Balanced and Unbalanced Collection Trees
450
Max. Energy Consumption of CL Per Sensor, J

400
99
350
Number of Occurrence

98 300
250
97 200
150
96
100
50
95
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
94 Number of Nodes in the Collection Trees
8 9 10 11 12
Node Degree, d
Unbalanced FNF−BHA
Balanced FNF−BHA
SPT_DGA
FNF−BHC Figure 14: Comparison between the number of nodes at balanced
AT−BHC and unbalanced CTs for FNF-BHA algorithm with ℎ = 4 and 𝑑 = 10.
Figure 12: The maximum energy consumption of the CL sensor
node for forwarding sensing data of single sensor node with the node
degree for the SPT-DGA, AT-BHA, and FNF-BHA algorithms, for
ℎ = 4. 5. Conclusion
In this paper, we dealt with the problem of data gathering in
the mobile BS environment. We studied the trade-off between
settings of 𝛽 and hop count, while it depends on hop count the relay hop count of sensor nodes and the tour length of
only for the SPT-DGA and FNF-BHA algorithms. the mobile BS. Two heuristic algorithms, AT-BHA and FNF-
Finally, we study the effect of load balanced algorithm on BHA, are proposed towards finding the shortest tour length
the distribution of the number of sensor nodes in the CTs. for the mobile BS subject to bounded hop count. The AT-
Figure 14 shows the histogram of the number of nodes in BHA selects adjacent CTs during tree construction to avoid
the CTs before and after the execution of the load balanced partitioned nodes that increased the tour length. The FNF-
algorithm. The result shows that there is high occurrence of BHA uses the farthest nodes from the BS in the construction
trees, with the number of nodes less than 20 nodes for the of the CTs. Extensive simulations have been carried out to
unbalanced FNF-BHA. However, the number of nodes is very validate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms against
well distributed for the balanced FNF-BHA. SPT-DGA. The experimental results demonstrated that the
12 Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing

proposed algorithms outperform the SPT-DGA significantly [12] A. Kansal, A. A. Somasundara, D. D. Jea, M. B. Srivastava, and D.
in terms of minimizing the BS tour length. Estrin, “Intelligent fluid infrastructure for embedded networks,”
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The data used in this study are generated via the simulation [13] M. Ma and Y. Yang, “SenCar: An energy-efficient data gathering
of the proposed algorithms. The proposed algorithms are mechanism for large-scale multihop sensor networks,” IEEE
provided and discussed within the article. Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, vol. 18, no. 10,
pp. 1476–1488, 2007.
[14] E. M. Saad, M. H. Awadalla, M. A. Saleh, H. Keshk, and R. R.
Conflicts of Interest Darwish, “A data gathering algorithm for a mobile sink in large-
scale sensor networks,” in Proceedings of the 4th International
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Conference on Wireless and Mobile Communications (ICWMC
’08), pp. 207–213, IEEE, 2008.
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