Routing in Three-Dimensional Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Advances in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) technology have been undergoing a revolution that promises a significant impact on society. Most existing wire-less systems and protocols are based on two-dimensional design, where all wire-less nodes are distributed in a two-dimensional (2D) plane. However, 2D assumption may no longer be valid if a wireless network is deployed in space, atmosphere, or ocean, where nodes of a network are distributed over a three-dimensional (3D) space and the differences in the third dimension are too large to be ignored. In fact, recent interest in wireless sensor networks hints at the strong need to design 3D wireless networks. The characteristics of 3D wireless sensor networks require more effective methods to ensure routing and data dissemination protocols in these networks. In this chapter, we present a survey of the state-of-the-art routing techniques in 3D WSNs.