Preamble Sampling MAC Protocol for Low Power Wireless Sensor Networks with IEEE 802.15.4 Transceivers

Low power, low cost, and security-conscious wireless sensor networks are becoming increasingly pervasive in the internet of things (IoT). In these networks, receiver-assigned code division multiple access (RA-CDMA) offers benefits over existing multiple access techniques. RA-CDMA networks are asynchronous, robust against multipath interference, and offer resilience against collision. A lightweight medium access control (MAC) protocol is needed to facilitate communication in RA-CDMA networks between low power sensor nodes and access points. This article provides an overview of RA-CDMA and proposes elements of a new MAC protocol that could improve performance of certain wireless sensor networks. Key features of the proposed MAC design are introduced and compared to those of existing protocols, highlighting its simple and lightweight design. Through its compatibility with RA-CDMA, the MAC design eliminates significant overhead and complexity while meeting requirements for low power networks, which enables the implementation of dense IoT sensor networks.

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An Energy-Efficient MAC Scheduler based on a Switched-Beam Antenna for Wireless Sensor Networks

Journal of Communications Software and Systems ◽

10.24138/jcomss.v9i2.149 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 117 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Luca Catarinucci ◽

Sergio Guglielmi ◽

Luca Mainetti ◽

Vincenzo Mighali ◽

Luigi Patrono ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wireless Sensor Networks ◽

Sensor Networks ◽

Ieee 802.15.4 ◽

Mac Protocol ◽

Beam Steering ◽

Communication Protocols ◽

Wireless Sensor ◽

Standard Solution ◽

Ieee 802.15.4 Standard ◽

And Storage

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are receiving an ever increasing attention because they are one of the most important technologies enabling the Internet of Things vision. Since nodes of these networks are battery-powered, energy efficiency represents one of the main design objectives. This goal can be primarily achieved through an optimization of the communication phase, which is the most power consuming operation for a WSN node. However, the limited computational and storage resources of physical devices make the design of complex communication protocols particularly hard, suggesting, on the contrary, to integrate more simple communication protocols with hardware solutions aimed at energy saving. In this work, a new MAC protocol, compatible with the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, and a reconfigurable beam-steering antenna are presented and validated. They significantly reduce the nodes’ power consumption by exploiting scheduling techniques and directional communications. Specifically, both during transmission and receiving phases, the node activates exclusively the antenna sector needed to communicate with the intended neighbour. The designed antenna and the proposed protocol have been thoroughly evaluated by means of simulations and test-beds, which have highlighted their good performance. In particular, the MAC protocol has been implemented on the Contiki Operating System and it was compared with the IEEE 802.15.4 standard solution.

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IEEE 802.15.4 Modifications and Their Impact

Mobile Information Systems ◽

10.1155/2011/463802 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 69-92 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. Goyal ◽

W. Xie ◽

H. Hosseini

Keyword(s):

Wireless Sensor Networks ◽

Sensor Networks ◽

Low Power ◽

Stochastic Modeling ◽

Ieee 802.15.4 ◽

Data Rate ◽

Traffic Load ◽

Wireless Sensor ◽

Modeling And Simulations

IEEE 802.15.4 is a popular choice for MAC/PHY protocols in low power and low data rate wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we suggest several modifications to beaconless IEEE 802.15.4 MAC operation and evaluate their impact on the performance via stochastic modeling and simulations. We found that the utility of these modifications is strongly dependent on the traffic load on the network. Accordingly, we make recommendations regarding how these modifications should be used in view of the prevalent traffic load on the network.

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