Energy-efficient multi-hop communication schemes for wireless networks

A node, comprising:

• one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to:
• determine a first route from a first source node to a destination, the first route comprising one or more relay nodes;
• determine an energy-harvesting routing metric, the energy-harvesting routing metric for use in determining a second route from a second source node to the destination;
• determine the second route from the second source node to the destination, the determined second route comprising one or more relay nodes selected to maximize the determined energy-harvesting routing metric;
• transmit at least a portion of the second route to one or more of the second source node and the one or more relay nodes for use by the second source node to transmit data to the destination;
• and
• wherein the one or more processors configured to determine the second route from the second source node to the destination comprise one or more processors configured to:
• determine one or more first candidate relay nodes, the first candidate relay nodes located within a communication range of the second source node;
• determine which of the one or more first candidate relay nodes maximizes the energy-harvesting routing metric, wherein the determination of which of the one or more first candidate relay nodes maximizes the energy-harvesting routing metric is based on an energy-harvesting routing metric of the first source node, the second source node, and a first relay node of the first route;
• and
• select a first candidate relay node that maximizes the energy-harvesting routing metric as the first relay node of the second route.

A computer program product comprising instructions stored on non-transient computer-readable media which, when executed by one or more processors, perform the acts of:

• determining a first route from a first source node to a destination, the first route comprising one or more relay nodes;
• determining an energy-harvesting routing metric, the energy-harvesting routing metric for use in determining a second route from a second source node to the destination;
• determining the second route from the second source node to the destination, the determined second route comprising one or more relay nodes selected to maximize the determined energy-harvesting routing metric;
• transmitting at least a portion of the second route to one or more of the second source node and the one or more relay nodes for use by the second source node to transmit data to the destination;
• and
• wherein determining the second route from the second source node to the destination comprises:
• determining one or more first candidate relay nodes, the first candidate relay nodes located within a communication range of the second source node;
• determining which of the one or more first candidate relay nodes maximizes the energy-harvesting routing metric, wherein the determination of which of the one or more first candidate relay nodes maximizes the energy-harvesting routing metric is based on energy-harvesting routing metrics of the first source node, the second source node, and a first relay node of the first route;
• and
• selecting a first candidate relay node that maximizes the energy-harvesting routing metric as the first relay node of the second route.