A Distributed Cross-Layer Protocol for Sleep Scheduling and Data Aggregation in Wireless Sensor Networks

We propose a Cross-layer Protocol for Sleep scheduling and Data aggregation (CPSD) in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) to improve the performance in WSNs. Data aggregation and sleep scheduling have shown good performance in reducing energy consumption and improving network lifetime. A lot of past studies about sleep scheduling focused on scheduling exactly once for each node, without long-term solutions. In this paper, we combine data aggregation and sleep scheduling for improving network lifetime and supporting the long-term operation of the network. We propose the Maximum Lifetime Minimum Hop Path Aggregation Tree Problem (MLMHPATP) with the probability of each node sending in a cycle, and divide it into the Maximum Lifetime Parent-Child Matching Problem (MLPCMP). We also define the Time Slot Scheduling Problem (TSSP) in bipartite graphs based on the SINR interference model. We use the Q-learning algorithm to solve the MLPCMP and solve the MLMHPATP bottom-up based on it. As for TSSP, we propose a distributed approach for it. We propose a novel cycle structure for the data transmission phase, which staggers three kinds of time frames at nodes with adjacent levels. The simulation results show that CPSD protocol has good performance in terms of throughput, energy consumption, aggregation delay, and network lifetime.