Optimizing Mobile Base Station Placement for Prolonging Wireless Sensor Network Lifetime in IoT Applications

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) are increasingly employed in commercial and industrial applications to accomplish various tasks at a low cost. WSNs are essential for gathering diverse types of data within physical environments. A key design objective for WSNs is to balance energy consumption and increase the network’s operating lifetime. Recent studies have shown that mobile base stations (BSs) can significantly extend the lifetime of such networks, especially when their location is optimized using specific criteria. In this study, we propose an algorithm for selecting the optimal BS location in a large network. The algorithm computes a distance metric between sensor nodes (SNs) and potential BS locations on a virtual grid within the WSN. The selection process is repeated periodically to account for dead SNs, allowing the BS to relocate to a new optimal position based on the remaining active nodes after each iteration. Additionally, the inclusion of a relay node (RN) in large networks is explored to improve scalability. The impact of path loss within WSNs is also discussed. The proposed algorithms are applied to the well-known Stable Election Protocol (SEP). Simulation results demonstrate that, compared to other algorithms in the literature, the proposed approaches significantly enhance the lifetime of WSNs.