A Multi-Hop Bit-Map-Assisted Energy-Efficient MAC Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

The proposed model is a cluster-based multi-hop routing protocol which employs a time-division multiple access (TDMA)-based medium access method. The model employs a centralized cluster head (CH) selection scheme in which the base station (BS) appoints the node with the highest residual energy (RE) as the CH in each cluster. A centralized CH selection scheme ensures that all the CHs are evenly distributed in the network. The BS also sets up multi-hop paths to communicate with the CHs. This ensures that none of the CHs make long-range transmissions to communicate with the BS. If a non-cluster-head (non-CH) node wants to claim one or more data slots in a frame, it sends a control message to its CH in the allocated control slot. However, the node has to turn its radio ON from the beginning of the control period. This is so because before claiming any data slot(s), it should know which data slots have already been claimed. The experimental results show that the proposed model saves a considerable amount of energy in sensor nodes.