Reproducibility and Applicability of a Fuzzy-based Routing Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks

Sammanfattning

Wireless sensor networks is a broad subject with many applications and interesting research areas, such as optimization within connectivity and energy efficiency. One problem is that most published articles in this field use customized simulation environments and do not provide source code of their implementation. By not including aspects of implementation, it becomes difficult to determine how the results are achieved, which questions the validity and reliability of the works. This thesis aims to reproduce one of these researched methods, an algorithm that balances battery life with efficient routing within a network using fuzzy logic, with the goal to increase the reliability of the methodology within its field. The research question constructed on the foundation of these premises is thus “Is reproducibility satisfactory in a research work on a multi-objective routing algorithm, using fuzzy logic, in wireless sensor networks?, a case study by Minhas et al”. Two additional research questions emerge from the first one: “How does the reproduced algorithm perform in comparison to a selection of dif erent routing algorithms?” and “Is the reproduced algorithm, as is, applicable to a less idealistic environment?” To answer the research questions a computer simulation method is used to build, execute, and analyze the output of the algorithms. The results show that the implemented algorithm performs noticeably better in both lifetime and ratio to the shortest path compared with the original implementation, hinting towards the implementation and reproducibility deviating from expected results. The reproduced algorithm is also compared to two other algorithms under a different simulation environment, where it performs better in lifetime and packet delivery rate whilst performing slightly worse in energy efficiency and total energy consumption. Due to the significant differences in performance against the reproduced article’s implementation the study concludes that the reproducibility is not satisfactory. Lastly, it concludes that it does not perform well in a less idealistic simulation environment, making it less applicable.