Wireless Sensor Network Charging Strategy Based on Modified Ant Colony Algorithm

—Using mobile charging devices to provide controllable and sustainable energy to Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), has become an important topic of current research. A novel charging strategy based on the mobile device is proposed to add the net increase in network power. To improve the charging efficiency and avoid unnecessary charging, a charging threshold is evaluated and determined. A Modified Ant Colony Optimization (MACO) is introduced to minimize the travelling distance of the mobile charging device. A dynamic state transition rule, which considers the real-time power of the nodes is developed in MACO to guide the charging path of the mobile charging device. The sustainability of the WSN using the proposed charging strategy is also studied. A WSN model with 50 nodes and one mobile charging device is used to testify the effectiveness and the efficiency of the proposed method. The results demonstrate that the proposed charging strategy can maximize the net increase of the average power of the WSN with a shorter route in one or multiple charging tour and ensure the power supply of the WSN maintaining in a healthy state.