FEAR: Fuzzy-Based Energy Aware Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are used in different civilian, military, and industrial applications. Recently, many routing protocols have been proposed attempting to find suitable routes to transmit data. In this paper we propose a Fuzzy Energy Aware tree-based Routing (FEAR) protocol that aims to enhance existing tree-based routing protocols and prolong the network’s life time by considering sensors’ limited energy. The design and implementation of the new protocol is based on cross-layer structure where information from different layers are utilized to achieve the best power saving. Each node maintains a list of its neighbors in order to use neighbors’ links in addition to the parent-child links. The protocol is tested and compared with other tree-based protocols and the simulation results show that FEAR protocol is more energy-efficient than comparable protocols. According to the results FEAR protocol saves up to 70.5% in the number of generated control messages and up to 55.08% in the consumed power.