A Novel Cross-layer Routing Protocol for Increasing Packet Transfer Reliability in Mobile Sensor Networks

In mobile sensor networks (MSNs), sensor data is generally transferred via mobile sensor nodes by multi-hop fashion. Because of the mobility of the nodes in the network, the efficient routing protocols are needed to ensure end-to-end route reliability while incurring minimal power consumption and packet delay. In this study, we developed a new routing protocol to meet these requirements for MSNs based on a cross-layer interaction among five reference layers (application, transport, network, MAC and physical). The proposed protocol primarily exploits the idea of interaction among these five layers all-in-one protocol. Its primary goals are (i) to discover the most reliable route in network, (ii) to sustain the route reliability and (iii) to be energy efficient and delay aware. It has been designed, modeled and simulated by using OPNET Modeler simulation software. The simulation results of the proposed protocol have been compared to three well known routing protocols (i.e., AODV, Leach-Mobile, CBR-Mobile). According to the obtained results, the proposed protocol outperforms its counterparts in terms of route reliability and end-to-end delay performances.