  A Wireless Sensor Network(WSN) can be described as a collection of untethered
sensor nodes. An important application of WSNs is in the field of real-time
communication. Real-time communication is a critical service which requires a
qualitative routing protocol for energy-efficient network communication. The
judicious use of energy of the network nodes is essential and important for
sustainability and longevity of a WSN. This paper proposes an algorithm namely
Priority-Energy Based Data Forwarding Algorithm(PEDF) which empowers the node
to choose the most suitable packet forwarding path, based on the priority of
the packet and the current energy status of the forwarding node. The algorithm
hence dynamically adapts to the prevailing energy-scenario of the network and
takes routing decisions accordingly, based on packet priority. Minimizing
delay, minimizing energy utilization, maximizing throughput and maximizing
network lifetime are the key elements of the proposed algorithm.

Networking and Internet Architecture