Escalating QoS by firefly optimization of CGSTEB routing protocol with subordinate energy alert gateways

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) comprise large numbers of sensor nodes that are highly constrained by limited battery power, making energy-efficient routing essential for sustaining network lifetime and service quality. Among existing solutions, the general self-organized tree-based energy balancing (GSTEB) pro tocol with clustering has been widely adopted for energy-aware communication. However, GSTEB and its clustered variant often suffer from energy imbalance, high packet loss, and reduced quality of service (QoS) due to excessive load on cluster heads (CHs). To address these challenges, this paper introduces an enhanced routing framework that integrates firefly optimization with clustered GSTEB(CGSTEB)andintroduces subordinate energy alert gateways (SEAGs). The firefly algorithm is applied to optimize CH selection through a fitness func tion that balances residual energy and node proximity, ensuring efficient cluster formation and adaptive load distribution. Meanwhile, SEAGs establish a two hop communication model between CHs and the base station (BS), reducing CH energy consumption and preventing premature node failures. Simulation exper iments conducted in NS2 demonstrate that the proposed firefly-CGSTEB with SEAG significantly improves QoS metrics, including network lifetime, energy utilization, throughput, and packet loss rate, compared with conventional CG STEB. These results confirm the effectiveness of combining metaheuristic opti mization with gateway-assisted routing for resilient and energy-efficient WSNs.