A comparison of epidemic algorithms in wireless sensor networks

We consider the problem of reliable data dissemination in the context of wireless sensor networks. For some application scenarios, reliable data dissemination to all nodes is necessary for propagating code updates, queries, and other sensitive information in wireless sensor networks. Epidemic algorithms are a natural approach for reliable distribution of information in such ad hoc, decentralized, and dynamic environments. In this paper we show the applicability of epidemic algorithms in the context of wireless sensor environments, and provide a comparative performance analysis of the three variants of epidemic algorithms in terms of message delivery rate, average message latency, and messaging overhead on the network.