Routing Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks: Classifications and Challenges
Manal Abdullah, Aisha Ehsan · 2014
Sensor is an object used to gather information about a physical process, including the occurrence of events. Hence Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) consists of individual sensors or nodes that collaborate to fulfill certain task; and these nodes use wireless communication to enable their collaboration. Routing protocols are in charge of discovering and maintaining the routes in the network. However, the appropriateness of a particular routing protocol mainly depends on the capabilities of the nodes and on the application requirements. In this paper, we classify the routing protocols proposed for WSN. The classification is based on five main key factors namely: energy efficiency, operational model, routing objectives, network architecture, and route selection. Some of these criteria are further detailed classified. We also highlighted some overlapping characteristics of some protocols. The design challenges of WSN are discussed with its application area.