Energy-efficient reservation-based medium access control protocol for wireless sensor networks

Abstract

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), a robust and energy-efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol is required for high energy efficiency in harsh operating conditions, where node and link failures are common. This paper presents the design of a novel MAC protocol for low-power WSNs. The developed MAC protocol minimizes the energy overhead of idle time and collisions by strict frame synchronization and slot reservation. It combines a dynamic bandwidth adjustment mechanism, multi-cluster-tree network topology, and a network channel allowing rapid and low-energy neighbor discoveries. The protocol achieves high scalability by employing frequency and time division between clusters. Performance analysis shows that the MAC protocol outperforms current state-of-the-art protocols in energy efficiency, and the energy overhead compared to an ideal MAC protocol is only 2.85% to 27.1%. The high energy efficiency is achieved in both leaf and router nodes. The models and the feasibility of the protocol were verified by simulations and with a full-scale prototype implementation. Copyright © 2010 Mikko Kohvakka et al.