Comparison of Routing Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks under Battery-Powered and Energy Harvesting Conditions

Abstract

Energy consumption is the main theme of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Since the maintenance of WSNs is hard, the lifespan of WSNs is finite. Energy harvesting (EH) is an appealing new assault to cope with this point, because EH does not need a power supply and can produce energy from the surrounding environment. However, the power source level of Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Networks (EH-WSNs) is variable against Battery Powered Wireless Sensor Networks (BP-WSNs). Consequently, each node does not know the energy condition of the neighboring nodes. In this paper, we assume the properties of an EH energy model, and compare the features of the MANETs(Mobile Ad hoc NETworks) routing protocols, AODV(Adhoc on Demand Distance Vector), DSR(Dynamic Source Routing) and ZRP(Zone Routing Protocol) with BP-WSNs and the features of the MANETs routing protocols with EH-WSNs under the same conditions. Consequently, the effects of energy harvesting on routing protocols, i.e. the effects of instability are quantitatively clarified under the same conditions for the first time.