An Approach to Reduce the Number of Intermediate Nodes in a Free Space Wireless Sensor Networks

An Approach to Reduce the Number of Intermediate Nodes in a Free Space Wireless Sensor Networks | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article An Approach to Reduce the Number of Intermediate Nodes in a Free Space Wireless Sensor Networks SALEM OMAR ALZABIDI This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7575931/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is composed of a collection of sensor nodes, which are small and energy constrained devices distributed over a certain area of environment that can be used for environmental monitoring applications. These sensor nodes can also be used as an effective tool for gathering data in various situations and make them available to main location called Base Station (BS), so the WSN perform the task of sensing, computation and data forwarding. The aim of this research was to develop an efficient method to shorten and find the best path between the source and sink of data by reducing the number of intermediate nodes, also to minimize path overall time delay, cost, power consumption and network overhead. Furthermore examining the impact of data packet size and intermediate distances over the whole lifetime of data transmission path between the source and sink node. As methodology MATLAB R2016a was used as a simulator. two different network scenarios with different network sizes, source sink positions, data packet sizes, initial power per node, number of rounds and different distances between nodes were run. After the experiments were executed the length of the path in the normal situation was compared to the length of the path after the approach is applied. The other path characteristics were calculated such as the overall time delay, round through which first node dies, residual power at each node, number of packets delivered to the base station then number of nodes reduced according to the approach is declared. The path lifetime was directly affected by data packet size, intermediate distances between nodes and initial power of each node, increment in data packet size and intermediate distances between nodes consumes nodes energy rapidly and cause them to die. Finally after applying the approach the number of nodes per path was reduced and consequently the path overall time delay was minimized. For scenario one the number of nodes per path was reduced from 6 to 5 and for scenario two the number of nodes was reduced from 9 to 5. The contribution of this study is briefly concluded in keeping the other networks nodes in sleep mode to save power while a few numbers of nodes are in charge with transferring data. This study recommends the development of an advanced sensor nodes that can transmit a big amount of data over a long distance consuming a few amount of communication energy. Wireless Sensor Networks Shortest Path Free Space Energy Efficiency MATLAB Simulation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7575931","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":525889797,"identity":"2e4fcfff-830c-426e-995e-011dae9db653","order_by":0,"name":"SALEM OMAR ALZABIDI","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Seiyun University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"SALEM","middleName":"OMAR","lastName":"ALZABIDI","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-09 16:53:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7575931/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7575931/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109054247,"identity":"f984d22e-6a3a-4be6-b94e-e23ee2b43496","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-12 07:18:33","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":555825,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"BlindedManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7575931/v1_covered_82365fd8-fc2e-4583-bbbe-47e383b9fac7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"An Approach to Reduce the Number of Intermediate Nodes in a Free Space Wireless Sensor Networks","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Wireless Sensor Networks, Shortest Path, Free Space, Energy Efficiency, MATLAB Simulation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7575931/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7575931/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWireless Sensor Network (WSN) is composed of a collection of sensor nodes, which are small and energy constrained devices distributed over a certain area of environment that can be used for environmental monitoring applications. 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