An Improved Flooding Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Network-Coding

Abstract

A central question in wireless sensor network research is how to reduce the consumption of the energy of the sensor nodes. Theoretically, the network coding technology proposed by Ahlswede et al (2000) can improve the network reliability and network throughput, increase the robustness and save energy. Based on the classic flooding routing protocol, the present study proposes a new flooding control protocol, i.e. NC-Flooding for wireless sensor networks. NC-Flooding protocol introduces five mechanisms to enhance the efficiency of wireless sensor networks. As shown by MATLAB simulation results, NC-Flooding protocol reduces the number of broadcasts of wireless sensor networks, increases the throughput of the network and increases the bandwidth utilization. We conclude that NC-Flooding protocol reduces data forwarding cost and node energy consumption and extends nodes’ life cycle, thus increasing network utilization.