In order to extend the network lifetime and reduce communication delay in wireless sensor network，a routing algorithm based on virtual grid (CRVB) was presented. In this algorithm, the area was divided into some virtual grids and nodes in the same grid joined a cluster, a spanning routing tree was formed in every cluster concurrently. The cluster head was chosen by the node’s residual energy and communicated with base station by multi-hop. Based on the balanced clustering strategy, the communication delay was lower. The simulation experiments showed that compared to the classical LEACH and PEGASIS, this algorithm significantly prolongs network lifetime and reduces communication delay.
