Hardware Implementation of Fuzzy Logic‐Based Energy‐Efficient Routing Protocol for Environment Monitoring Application of Wireless Sensor Networks

ABSTRACT The application of wireless sensor network (WSN) technology provides a cost‐effective, intelligence‐driven solution for addressing various challenges. WSNs have emerged as a highly promising technology, finding applications in environmental monitoring, surveillance, and the development of smart cities. However, a primary challenge in WSNs is the limited energy resources of individual sensor nodes. Preserving energy is crucial to extend the network's operational lifespan and ensuring multihop data transmission. The main objective of this work is to develop a routing protocol focused on enhancing energy efficiency within hybrid WSNs for environmental monitoring and implementing it on a hardware. This protocol integrates methodologies such as data aggregation, cluster‐based routing, and sleep scheduling to optimize energy utilization effectively and extend the network's operational longevity. By considering factors like residual energy and proximity to neighboring nodes, this innovative protocol employs sleep scheduling techniques. This allows certain nodes to conserve energy through periodic transitions into low‐power sleep modes. The proposed routing protocol undergoes rigorous evaluation through extensive experiments and comparative analysis with existing protocols, specifically in terms of energy consumption and network lifespan. The results conclusively highlight a substantial enhancement of energy efficiency achieved by this protocol, leading to a notably prolonged network lifespan and an overall boost in performance. The insights derived from this protocol's findings contribute significantly to the domain of hybrid WSNs, offering valuable guidance for the design and implementation of energy‐efficient routing protocols in real‐world scenarios.