A delay-aware network structure for wireless sensor networks with consecutive data collection processes

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) utilize large numbers of wireless sensor nodes to perform close-range sensing and thus enhance sensing qualities. In typical sensing applications, data packets are flowing from sensor nodes to a base station in a many-to-one network structure. To keep event detection delay at a low value, in applications that require occasion data snapshots, it is always desirable to reduce the duration of a data collection process (DCP). Conversely, for applications that require continuous monitoring, the number of DCPs completed in a given period of time is important for reconstructing an accurate data trend. In this paper, a delay-aware network structure is proposed for WSNs with consecutive DCPs. The proposed network structure is able to increase the number of DCPs per unit time without imposing extra delay on each single DCP. A multistage network formation algorithm is proposed to construct the proposed network structure while keeping communication distances among sensor nodes at low values. Simulation results shows that the proposed network structure can provide significant improvements on data collection rates without increasing data collection durations. © 2012 IEEE.