Novel fault-tolerant clustering-based multipath algorithm (FTCM) for wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks are designed in such a way that transfer sensed data to base station, while a part of network is faulty. This study suggests a fault-tolerant clustering-based multipath algorithm for wireless sensor networks. We have employed a hybrid energy-efficient distributed clustering approach, to cluster nodes. Then a backup node is selected to increase the fault tolerance of cluster head node so that on completing collecting data from sensor nodes, it stores a copy of data. While collecting data in clusters, hypothesis testing and majority voting in cluster head were used to detect the fault of nodes. Finally, three paths were adopted to transfer data from source to base station based on residual energy, number of hops, propagation speed, and reliability parameters. The results of the simulation reveal that our proposed method has improved in terms of energy (6.7%), correct data (53%), data loss (4%), and delay (5.6%) compared with other algorithms.