Energy-Efficient Boarder Node Medium Access Control Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper introduces the design, implementation, and performance analysis of the scalable and mobility-aware hybrid protocol named boarder node medium access control (BN-MAC) for wireless sensor networks (WSNs), which leverages the characteristics of scheduled and contention-based MAC protocols. Like contention-based MAC protocols, BN-MAC achieves high channel utilization, network adaptability under heavy traffic and mobility, and low latency and overhead. Like schedule-based MAC protocols, BN-MAC reduces idle listening time, emissions, and collision handling at low cost at one-hop neighbor nodes and achieves high channel utilization under heavy network loads. BN-MAC is particularly designed for region-wise WSNs. Each region is controlled by a boarder node (BN), which is of paramount importance. The BN coordinates with the remaining nodes within and beyond the region. Unlike other hybrid MAC protocols, BN-MAC incorporates three promising models that further reduce the energy consumption, idle listening time, overhearing, and congestion to improve the throughput and reduce the latency. One of the models used with BN-MAC is automatic active and sleep (AAS), which reduces the ideal listening time. When nodes finish their monitoring process, AAS lets them automatically go into the sleep state to avoid the idle listening state. Another model used in BN-MAC is the intelligent decision-making (IDM) model, which helps the nodes sense the nature of the environment. Based on the nature of the environment, the nodes decide whether to use the active or passive mode. This decision power of the nodes further reduces energy consumption because the nodes turn off the radio of the transceiver in the passive mode. The third model is the least-distance smart neighboring search (LDSNS), which determines the shortest efficient path to the one-hop neighbor and also provides cross-layering support to handle the mobility of the nodes. The BN-MAC also incorporates a semi-synchronous feature with a low duty cycle, which is advantageous for reducing the latency and energy consumption for several WSN application areas to improve the throughput. BN-MAC uses a unique window slot size to enhance the contention resolution issue for improved throughput. BN-MAC also prefers to communicate within a one-hop destination using Anycast, which maintains load balancing to maintain network reliability. BN-MAC is introduced with the goal of supporting four major application areas: monitoring and behavioral areas, controlling natural disasters, human-centric applications, and tracking mobility and static home automation devices from remote places. These application areas require a congestion-free mobility-supported MAC protocol to guarantee reliable data delivery. BN-MAC was evaluated using network simulator-2 (ns2) and compared with other hybrid MAC protocols, such as Zebra medium access control (Z-MAC), advertisement-based MAC (A-MAC), Speck-MAC, adaptive duty cycle SMAC (ADC-SMAC), and low-power real-time medium access control (LPR-MAC). The simulation results indicate that BN-MAC is a robust and energy-efficient protocol that outperforms other hybrid MAC protocols in the context of quality of service (QoS) parameters, such as energy consumption, latency, throughput, channel access time, successful delivery rate, coverage efficiency, and average duty cycle.https://doi.org/10.3390/s14030507

Reduce energy consumption in the wireless sensor network by using EEL-MAC protocol

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) nodes are broadly used in various sectors. Over the years, WSN has emerged as an enabler to collect and process data from remote locations or disaster areas. WSNs rely on hardware simplicity to make sensor field deployments both affordable and long-lasting without maintenance support. However, the WSN nodes experience a lot of problems such as, overhearing, collision, hidden terminal, idle listening and high latency, which resulted in high energy consumption, thus limiting the lifetime of the node. Moreover, WSN nodes are strongly dependent on their limited battery power, and replenishing them again is difficult. Therefore, this research investigates the energy-efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols designed to extend both the lifetime by effective energy management through a reduction in idle time and increased sleep time for nodes to save energy. This study also aims to reduce the latency between nodes and sink node. The EEL-MAC hybrid MAC protocol starts by a synchronization phase using TDMA to synchronize all nodes in the sensor field. In the second phase the scheme uses the CSMA mechanism for communication between nodes and the sink node. In this study makes two significant contributions to wireless sensor networks. First, the EEL-MAC protocol offers significant energy savings and prolongs network lifetime. The second contribution is the introduction of high response, by designing a one-hop communication to reduce both end-to-end delay and latency

Power Efficient Scheduled-Based Medium Access Control Protocol over Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract The flexible use of sensors has made them an attractive device to be deployed in almost every field of life such as health, military and home. Recent advancement in electronics and wireless communications has witnessed the development of low cost-sensor devices. While wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are flexible to use and less costly, they need to be more energy-efficient as they are operated by the battery. Mostly they are deployed in harsh environments where it is very difficult to change the batteries frequently. Several medium access control (MAC) algorithms have been developed for the energy-efficient acquisition of the wireless channel, however, none of them are satisfactory. In this paper, we proposed a medium access control algorithm called MAC-PE. MAC-PE is based on the concept of prioritized frames where prioritized frames are transmitted urgently. In addition, it uses scheduled-based MAC instead of accessing channel randomly. We found MAC-PE (Power-Efficient MAC) was efficient in terms of power consumption without sacrificing on the performance using NS-2

Real-Time QoS Routing Protocols in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks: Study and Analysis

Many routing protocols have been proposed for wireless sensor networks. These routing protocols are almost always based on energy efficiency. However, recent advances in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) cameras and small microphones have led to the development of Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSN) as a class of wireless sensor networks which pose additional challenges. The transmission of imaging and video data needs routing protocols with both energy efficiency and Quality of Service (QoS) characteristics in order to guarantee the efficient use of the sensor nodes and effective access to the collected data. Also, with integration of real time applications in Wireless Senor Networks (WSNs), the use of QoS routing protocols is not only becoming a significant topic, but is also gaining the attention of researchers. In designing an efficient QoS routing protocol, the reliability and guarantee of end-to-end delay are critical events while conserving energy. Thus, considerable research has been focused on designing energy efficient and robust QoS routing protocols. In this paper, we present a state of the art research work based on real-time QoS routing protocols for WMSNs that have already been proposed. This paper categorizes the real-time QoS routing protocols into probabilistic and deterministic protocols. In addition, both categories are classified into soft and hard real time protocols by highlighting the QoS issues including the limitations and features of each protocol. Furthermore, we have compared the performance of mobility-aware query based real-time QoS routing protocols from each category using Network Simulator-2 (NS2). This paper also focuses on the design challenges and future research directions as well as highlights the characteristics of each QoS routing protocol.https://doi.org/10.3390/s15092220

Modular Energy-Efficient and Robust Paradigms for a Disaster-Recovery Process over Wireless Sensor Networks

Robust paradigms are a necessity, particularly for emerging wireless sensor network (WSN) applications. The lack of robust and efficient paradigms causes a reduction in the provision of quality of service (QoS) and additional energy consumption. In this paper, we introduce modular energy-efficient and robust paradigms that involve two archetypes: (1) the operational medium access control (O-MAC) hybrid protocol and (2) the pheromone termite (PT) model. The O-MAC protocol controls overhearing and congestion and increases the throughput, reduces the latency and extends the network lifetime. O-MAC uses an optimized data frame format that reduces the channel access time and provides faster data delivery over the medium. Furthermore, O-MAC uses a novel randomization function that avoids channel collisions. The PT model provides robust routing for single and multiple links and includes two new significant features: (1) determining the packet generation rate to avoid congestion and (2) pheromone sensitivity to determine the link capacity prior to sending the packets on each link. The state-of-the-art research in this work is based on improving both the QoS and energy efficiency. To determine the strength of O-MAC with the PT model; we have generated and simulated a disaster recovery scenario using a network simulator (ns-3.10) that monitors the activities of disaster recovery staff; hospital staff and disaster victims brought into the hospital. Moreover; the proposed paradigm can be used for general purpose applications. Finally; the QoS metrics of the O-MAC and PT paradigms are evaluated and compared with other known hybrid protocols involving the MAC and routing features. The simulation results indicate that O-MAC with PT produced better outcomes.https://doi.org/10.3390/s15071616

Design of Wireless Sensors for IoT with Energy Storage and Communication Channel Heterogeneity

Autonomous Wireless Sensors (AWSs) are at the core of every Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). Current AWS technology allows the development of many IoT-based applications, ranging from military to bioengineering and from industry to education. The energy optimization of AWSs depends mainly on: Structural, functional, and application specifications. The holistic design methodology addresses all the factors mentioned above. In this sense, we propose an original solution based on a novel architecture that duplicates the transceivers and also the power source using a hybrid storage system. By identifying the consumption needs of the transceivers, an appropriate methodology for sizing and controlling the power flow for the power source is proposed. The paper emphasizes the fusion between information, communication, and energy consumption of the AWS in terms of spectrum information through a set of transceiver testing scenarios, identifying the main factors that influence the sensor node design and their inter-dependencies. Optimization of the system considers all these factors obtaining an energy efficient AWS, paving the way towards autonomous sensors by adding an energy harvesting element to them

A Multi-Layer Approach For Detection Of Selective Forwarding Attacks In Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are increasingly used due to their broad range of important applications in both military and civilian domains. Security is a major threat in WSNs. WSNs are prone to several types of security attacks. Sensor nodes have limited capacities and are deployed in dangerous locations; therefore, they are vulnerable to different types of attacks, including wormhole, sinkhole, and selective forwarding attacks. Security attacks are classified as data traffic and routing attacks. These security attacks could affect the most significant applications of WSNs, namely, military surveillance, traffic monitoring, and healthcare. Therefore, many approaches were suggested in literature to detect security attacks on the network layer in WSNs. The network layer is of paramount significance to the security of WSNs to prevent exploitation of their confidentiality, privacy, availability, integrity, and authenticity. Reliability, energy efficiency, and scalability are strong constraints on sensor nodes that affect the security of WSNs. Because sensor nodes have limited capabilities in most of these areas, selective forwarding attacks cannot be easily detected in networks. In this dissertation, an approach to selective forwarding detection (SFD) is suggested. The approach has three layers: MAC pool IDs, rule-based processing, and anomaly detection. It maintains the safety of data transmission between a source node and base station while detecting selective forwarding attacks. Furthermore, the approach is reliable, energy efficient, and scalable

Design of Wireless Sensors for IoT with Energy Storage and Communication Channel Heterogeneity

Autonomous Wireless Sensors (AWSs) are at the core of every Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). Current AWS technology allows the development of many IoT-based applications, ranging from military to bioengineering and from industry to education. The energy optimization of AWSs depends mainly on: Structural, functional, and application specifications. The holistic design methodology addresses all the factors mentioned above. In this sense, we propose an original solution based on a novel architecture that duplicates the transceivers and also the power source using a hybrid storage system. By identifying the consumption needs of the transceivers, an appropriate methodology for sizing and controlling the power flow for the power source is proposed. The paper emphasizes the fusion between information, communication, and energy consumption of the AWS in terms of spectrum information through a set of transceiver testing scenarios, identifying the main factors that influence the sensor node design and their inter-dependencies. Optimization of the system considers all these factors obtaining an energy efficient AWS, paving the way towards autonomous sensors by adding an energy harvesting element to them

Modular Energy Efficient Protocols for Lower Layers of Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) emerged as one of the compelling research areas in recent years. It has produced promising solutions for several potential applications such as intrusion detection, target detection, industrial automation, environmental monitoring, surveillance and military systems, medical diagnosing systems, tactical systems, etc. WSNs consist of small size of sensor nodes that are disseminated in a targeted area to monitor the events for collecting the data of interest. Meanwhile, WSNs face many challenging problems such as high energy consumption, network scalability and mobility. These problems profoundly affect the lifetime of the network, limit the access to several WSN application areas, and the Quality of Service (QoS) provision parameters including throughput, latency, bandwidth, data buffering, resource constraints, data redundancy, and medium reliability. Although, there has been significant research conducted in WSNs over the last few years to maintain a high standard of communication, especially coverage, challenges of high power consumption, mobility and scalability to name a few. The major problem with WSNs at the low layers are the excessive energy consumption by the sensor’s transceiver. Other related challenges are mobility and scalability that limit the QoS provision. To handle these issues, novel modular energy efficient protocols are proposed for lower layers of WSNs. These modular based protocols improve the energy consumption, providing cross-layering support to handle mobility, scalability and data redundancy. In addition, there is a protocol that automates handling the idle listening process. Other protocols optimize data frame format for faster channel access, data frame transfer, managing acknowledgement time and retry transmission, check the capability of sensing the nature of environment to decide to use either active or passive mode that help save energy, determine shortest efficient path, packet generation rate, automatic active and sleep mode, smart queuing, data aggregation and dynamically selection of the cluster head node. All these features ensure the QoS provision and resolve many problems introduced by mobility and scalability for multiple application areas especially disaster recovery, hospital monitoring system, remotely handling the static and mobile objects and battlefield surveillance systems. Finally, modular energy efficient protocols are simulated, and results demonstrate the validity and compatibility of the proposed approaches for multiple WSNs application areas