Adaptive data aggregation with probabilistic routing in wireless sensor networks

Periodical extraction of raw sensor readings is one of the most representative and comprehensive applications in Wireless sensor networks. In order to reduce the data redundancy and the communication load, in-network data aggregation is usually applied to merge the packets during the routing process. Aggregation protocols with deterministic routing pre-construct the stationary structure to perform data aggregation. However, the overhead of construction and maintenance always outweighs the benefits of data aggregation under dynamic scenarios. This paper proposes an Adaptive Data Aggregation protocol with Probabilistic Routing for the periodical data collection events. The main idea is to encourage the nodes to use an optimal routing structure for data aggregation with certain probability. The optimal routing structure is defined as a Multi-Objective Steiner Tree, which can be explored and exploited by the routing scheme based on the Ant Colony Optimization and Genetic Algorithm hybrid approach. The probabilistic routing decision ensures the adaptability for some topology transformations. Moreover, by using the prediction model based on the sliding window for future arriving packets, the adaptive timing policy can reduce the transmission delay and can enhance the aggregation probability. Therefore, the packet transmission converges from both spatial and temporal aspects for the data aggregation. Finally, the theoretical analysis and the simulation results validate the feasibility and the high efficiency of the novel protocol when compared with other existing approaches.