Starcast: robust and energy-efficient geometric routing for mobile sensor networks

Abstract

Assuming global positioning system (GPS)-enabled mobile sensor nodes we propose a new geometric routing protocol called Starcast that is designed to efficiently support node mobility as well as location services for mobile sensor networks (MSNs). In addition to a geometric path, Starcast can also discover a non-geometric path to a destination by exploiting the path history of location updates. Thus, the routing void can be minimised by alternating the two. Moreover, Starcast employs two location-based optimisations to further reduce the overhead of on-demand route discovery on inevitable voids. The detailed NS-2 simulations demonstrate that Starcast can not only increase network performance but also reduce energy consumption compared with the existing protocols based on on-demand route discovery or a plain geometric routing.