A reliable data delivery scheme with delay constraints for wireless sensor networks.

Delay-sensitive applications require the capability to send data while meeting performance requirements. However, due to strict constrains on the resources available to the sensor nodes, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) pose critical challenges in network protocol design considering delay constraints. Biologically inspired modeling techniques have received considerable attention for achieving robust global behavior, while retaining individual simplicity. In this paper, we propose an epidemic-inspired node scheduling scheme (ENS) with aims of delay reduction and energy saving. The ENS controls the state of a sensor node depending on the delay requirements of a specific application. Simulation results indicate that the ENS achieves reliable data delivery while saving energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]