AH-MAC: Adaptive Hierarchical MAC Protocol for Low-Rate Wireless Sensor Network Applications

Abstract

This paper proposes an adaptive hierarchical MAC protocol (AH-MAC) with cross-layer optimization for low-rate and large-scale wireless sensor networks. The main goal of the proposed protocol is to combine the strengths of LEACH and IEEE 802.15.4 while offsetting their weaknesses. The predetermined cluster heads are supported with an energy harvesting circuit, while the normal nodes are battery-operated. To prolong the network's operational lifetime, the proposed protocol transfers most of the network's activities to the cluster heads while minimizing the node's activity. Some of the main features of this protocol include energy efficiency, self-configurability, scalability, and self-healing. The simulation results showed great improvement of the AH-MAC over LEACH protocol in terms of energy consumption and throughput. AH-MAC consumes eight times less energy while improving throughput via acknowledgment support.