Optimizing Routing Efficiency in Wireless Sensor Networks with Link Score and Delay Awareness Routing

This work introduces a Delay-Aware Routing Protocol based on Link Score (LSDAR)forWireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), aimed at enhancing routing efficiency by incorporating bothlink quality and hop count in decision-making. The protocol evaluates each forwarding candidateusing a link score derived from its residual energy, estimated delay, and packet delivery success rate.By prioritizing nodes with higher link scores, LSDAR ensures data is transmitted through pathswith lower delay and higher reliability. Simulation analysis confirms that LSDAR significantlyextends network lifetime, improves delivery ratios, and minimizes end-to-end delays compared toconventional routing schemes. Additionally, it reduces packet collisions and optimizes energyconsumption. Results show that LSDAR achieves nearly 75% improvement in throughput andconserves up to 60% of total energy relative to baseline protocols, making it well-suited for realtime, energy-sensitive WSN applications.