Cost Efficient Localized Geographical Forwarding Strategies for Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper we investigate the relationship between local next hop selection strategies and their efficiency in terms of both link related metrics, such as the mean packet delivery fraction, and network related metrics, such as the energy status of the node elected as relay. In standard geographical forwarding algorithms the relay selection is usually carried out by means of advancements toward the destination. However, channel attenuation phenomena often make pure geographical strategies ineffective as the quality of a transmission link is not necessarily deterministically related to the node coordinates. In order to achieve effective and cost efficient routing solutions, it is therefore crucial to couple advancements toward the destination with link quality aspects as well as network related metrics (e.g., node energies). This study is a preliminary step toward the design of local relay selection rules which jointly account for these aspects and whose aim is to cut the desired trade-off between delay and cost efficiency.