Preserving energy using link protocol in wireless networks

A sensor node is equipped with a limited energy source and hence has a lifetime dependent on that source. In a wireless sensor network, each node can originate data and also has to route data. When a few nodes deplete their energy resources, topology changes occur which may require rerouting of data packets. An Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) protocol uses a mechanism to improve transmission reliability of a communication link by means of packet retransmission. The purpose of this work is to design a link quality aware ARQ protocol which only retransmits packets only when it gets acknowledgement from the receiver i.e. only when link is good. The protocol makes necessary comparisons through simulations and draw conclusions based on the results obtained. The main aim of this study is to determine a protocol that is efficient in terms of preserving the limited energy supply for sensor nodes and use a SimpleLink module for this purpose. The SimpleLink module consists of a transmitter and sender both will Adopt ARQ transmission protocol. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg