UNIT – IV MAC & ROUTING IN WIRELESS

SENSOR NETWORKS
• Introduction – Applications – Challenges – Sensor network
architecture – MAC Protocols for wireless sensor networks – Low duty
cycle protocols and wakeup concepts – Contention- Based protocols –
Schedule-Based protocols – IEEE 802.15.4 Zigbee – Topology Control –
Routing Protocols
Introduction
• Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) can be defined as a self-configured
and infrastructure-less wireless networks to monitor physical or
environmental conditions, such as temperature, sound, vibration,
pressure, motion or pollutants and to cooperatively pass their data
through the network to a main location.
• A Wireless Sensor Network is a self-configuring network of small
sensor nodes communicating among themselves using radio signals,
and deployed in quantity to sense, monitor and understand the
physical world.
Application examples
1. Disaster Relief & Emergency Response
Detects wildfires, chemical leaks, and natural disasters.
Sensors deployed from airplanes map temperature changes.
Assists firefighters and rescue teams with real-time data.
Similar to military applications (enemy troop detection).
2. Environmental Monitoring & Biodiversity Mapping
Monitors pollution, marine erosion, and ecosystem health.
Unobtrusive, long-term, wireless monitoring.
Used in offshore wind farms, garbage dumps, and wildlife studies.
3. Intelligent Buildings & Infrastructure Safety
Optimizes HVAC (Humidity, Ventilation, Air Conditioning).
Monitors structural integrity post-earthquake.
Detects occupants trapped in collapsed buildings.
4. Healthcare & Medical Applications
Wireless patient monitoring, drug administration, and elderly care.
Reduces hospital clutter by eliminating cables.
Used in glucose monitoring and retina prosthetics.
5. Machine Surveillance & Preventive Maintenance
Detects machinery vibrations signaling potential failures.
Applied in robotics, train axles, and manufacturing.
Reduces maintenance costs and downtime.
6. Precision Agriculture & Livestock Monitoring
Monitors soil moisture, nutrients, and irrigation.
Tracks livestock health via body temperature and movement.
Enhances pest control and disease prevention.
7. Facility Management & Security
Keyless entry and personnel tracking.
Detects intruders and security breaches.
Identifies chemical leaks in industrial plants.
8. Logistics & Supply Chain Management
RFID-based tracking for inventory and shipments.
Passive readout of data at checkpoints.
Active sensors can track history and location of goods.
9. Telematics & Smart Transportation
Sensors embedded in roads detect traffic conditions.
Alerts drivers to congestion, road hazards, and accidents.
Facilitates vehicle-to-infrastructure communication.
10. Additional Applications
Smart cities (waste management, flood detection).
Aerospace (airplane wing monitoring).
Interactive spaces (museums, kindergartens).
Types of applications
• Many of these applications share some basic characteristics. In most of them,
there is a clear difference between sources of data – the actual nodes that sense
data – and sinks – nodes where the data should be delivered to.
• These sinks sometimes are part of the sensor network itself; sometimes they are
clearly systems “outside” the network (e.g. the firefighter’s PDA communicating
with a WSN).
• The interaction patterns between sources and sinks show some typical patterns.
The most relevant ones are
Event detection –Sensor nodes should report to the sink(s) once they have
detected the occurrence of a specified event. The simplest events can be detected
locally by a single sensor node in isolation (e.g. a temperature threshold is
exceeded); more complicated types of events require the collaboration of nearby or
even remote sensors to decide whether a event has occurred
 Periodic measurements Sensors can be tasked with periodically reporting
measured values. Often, these reports can be triggered by a detected event; the
reporting period is application dependent.
Function approximation and edge detection The way a physical value like
temperature changes from one place to another can be regarded as a function of
location. A WSN can be used to approximate this unknown function using a limited
number of samples taken at each individual sensor node. This approximate
mapping should be made available at the sink. How and when to update this
mapping depends on the application’s needs.
Tracking The source of an event can be mobile (e.g. an intruder in
surveillance scenarios). The WSN can be used to report updates on the event
source’s position to the sink(s), potentially with estimates about speed and
direction as well. To do so, typically sensor nodes have to cooperate before updates
can be reported to the sink.
• These interactions can be scoped both in time and in space
• These requirements can also change dynamically overtime; sinks have to have a
means to inform the sensors of their requirements at runtime.
• Moreover, these interactions can take place only for one specific request of a sink
or they could be long-lasting relationships between many sensors and many
sinks.
Challenges for WSNs
• A single WSN implementation cannot cater to all application types, but common traits
exist in their characteristics and required mechanisms.
• Developing new mechanisms to achieve these characteristics remains a key challenge in
realizing the vision of wireless sensor networks.
I. Characteristic requirements
The following characteristics are shared among most of the applications.
• Type of Service:
• Unlike conventional networks, where moving bits is the primary goal, WSNs prioritize task-
oriented services.
• WSNs focus on providing meaningful information, not just transmitting raw data.
• “People want answers, not numbers” – The goal is to extract actionable insights.
• Geographic and temporal scoping is crucial for efficient data collection and decision-making.
• New paradigms, interfaces, and usage models are required to make WSNs effective.
• Quality of Service (QoS)
• Traditional metrics like bandwidth and delay may be irrelevant.
• Key concerns include reliable event detection and data approximation
accuracy.
• Importance of real-time response in actuator-based applications.
•Fault Tolerance
•Nodes may fail due to energy depletion or communication issues.
•Redundant deployment ensures continued functionality.
•Network Lifetime & Energy Efficiency
•Nodes rely on limited battery power; energy-efficient operation is critical.
•Renewable energy sources (e.g., solar) may supplement power but may not
sustain continuous operation.
•Trade-offs exist between QoS and energy consumption.
•Lifetime can be defined in multiple ways (e.g., time until first node failure,
network partitioning, or loss of coverage).
•Scalability & Density Variability
•Networks must handle a large number of nodes efficiently.
•Node density varies across applications and time due to failures or movement.
•Adaptation to non-uniform deployments is necessary.
•Programmability & Maintainability
•Nodes must be reprogrammable to handle evolving tasks dynamically.
•Self-monitoring is crucial for adapting to environmental changes, failures, and
resource limitations.
•The network should balance operational efficiency with energy constraints to
maintain long-term functionality.
II. Required mechanisms
• To realize these requirements, innovative mechanisms for a communication
network have to be found, as well as new architectures, and protocol concepts.
• A particular challenge here is the need to find mechanisms that are sufficiently
specific to the idiosyncrasies of a given application to support the specific quality
of service, lifetime, and maintainability requirements
• Some of the mechanisms that will form typical parts of WSNs are:
• Multihop Wireless Communication – Instead of direct sender-receiver
communication (which requires high transmission power over long distances),
intermediate nodes act as relays, reducing energy consumption.
• Energy-efficient Operation – WSNs must be designed for long lifetimes by
optimizing energy use, ensuring efficient data transport, and preventing hotspots
where certain nodes consume disproportionate power.
• Auto-configuration – WSNs must be self-sustaining, configuring themselves
without external intervention. This includes self-location, handling node failures,
and integrating new nodes.
• Collaboration & In-network Processing – Some events require multiple sensors
to collaborate. Instead of sending raw data to an external network, processing
happens within the network itself, reducing transmission needs and improving
efficiency.
• Data-centric Approach – Unlike traditional address-centric networks, WSNs focus
on the data itself rather than the node supplying it. Queries are based on
information needs (e.g., "average temperature in an area") rather than individual
node readings.
• Locality – Nodes should store and process only local information to maintain
scalability, as they have limited memory and processing power.
• Trade-offs – Design decisions involve balancing energy use, accuracy, network
lifetime, and node density to optimize performance under varying conditions.
Harnessing these mechanisms such that they are easy to use, yet sufficiently
general, for an application programmer is a major challenge.
Sensor network architecture
• Sensor node hardware overview
• When selecting hardware components for a wireless sensor node, the
application's requirements significantly influence key factors such as size, cost,
and energy consumption.
• While communication and computation capabilities are generally considered
sufficient, the critical challenge lies in balancing features with cost to achieve
optimal performance.
• A basic sensor node comprises five main components (Figure 2.1):
• Controller A controller to process all the relevant data, capable of executing
arbitrary code.
• Memory Some memory to store programs and intermediate data; usually,
different types of memory are used for programs and data.
• Sensors and actuators The actual interface to the physical world: devices that can
observe or control physical parameters of the environment.
• Communication Turning nodes into a network requires a device for sending and
receiving information over a wireless channel.
• Power supply As usually no tethered power supply is available, some form of
batteries are necessary to provide energy. Sometimes, some form of recharging
by obtaining energy from the environment is available as well (e.g. solar cells).
1. Controller
• The controller serves as the core of a wireless sensor node, responsible for
collecting and processing sensor data, managing communication with other
nodes, and controlling actuators. It must handle diverse tasks, including real-time
signal processing, communication protocols, and application execution.
• Different controller architectures offer trade-offs between flexibility,
performance, energy efficiency, and cost:
• Microcontrollers are widely used due to their low power consumption, built-in
memory, and flexibility in connecting with peripherals. They can enter low-power
sleep states to conserve energy, making them ideal for wireless sensor networks
(WSNs). However, they typically lack a memory management unit, limiting
memory functionality.
• Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) are optimized for handling large amounts of
vector data, commonly used in broadband communication. However, WSNs
generally use simpler modulations that do not require DSPs, making them less
relevant.
• Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Application-Specific Integrated
Circuits (ASICs) provide higher performance and energy efficiency but sacrifice
flexibility. FPGAs can be reconfigured in the field but at a higher energy cost,
while ASICs are custom-built for specific applications, making them suitable only
for large-scale deployments.
• Given the balance between flexibility and efficiency, microcontrollers remain the
preferred choice for most WSN applications. However, combining ASICs for low-
level processing with microcontrollers for high-level tasks is a potential research
direction.
2. Memory
• Memory in wireless sensor nodes is essential for storing sensor readings,
communication data, and program execution. The main types of memory
used are:
• Random Access Memory (RAM):
• Stores temporary data such as sensor readings and network packets.
• Provides fast access but loses data when power is lost.
• Power consumption should be optimized, especially in energy-constrained
environments.
• Read-Only Memory (ROM), EEPROM, and Flash Memory:
• Stores program code and persistent data.
• EEPROM allows selective erasing and writing of data at the byte level.
• Flash memory is similar to EEPROM but erases/writes data in blocks, making it faster
and more efficient for bulk operations.
• Flash memory can be used for intermediate storage when RAM is insufficient but has
longer access delays and higher energy consumption.
3. Communication device
• The communication device in a wireless sensor node is responsible for
exchanging data between nodes. While wired communication (e.g., Profibus,
LON, CAN) is sometimes used in specific applications, wireless communication is
more common and versatile for WSNs.
• Transmission Medium Choices
• Radio Frequency (RF) Communication (Most Common)
• Offers long range and high data rates.
• Works without requiring a line of sight between sender and receiver.
• Typically operates within 433 MHz to 2.4 GHz frequency bands.
• Optical Communication
• Requires a direct line of sight.
• Can be energy-efficient in short-range applications but is less flexible.
• Ultrasound Communication
• Used in specialized applications, such as underwater sensor networks.
• Offers high accuracy in distance measurement but has a short range and low data rate.
• Magnetic Inductance
• Rarely used, mainly for near-field communication in highly specific environments.
• Transceivers
• For actual communication, both a transmitter and a receiver are required
in a sensor node.
• The essential task is to convert a bit stream coming from a microcontroller
(or a sequence of bytes or frames) and convert them to and from radio
waves.
• For practical purposes, it is usually convenient to use a device that
combines these two tasks in a single entity. Such combined devices are
called transceivers.
• Usually, half-duplex operation is realized since transmitting and receiving at
the same time on a wireless medium is impractical in most cases.
• A range of low-cost transceivers is commercially available that incorporate
all the circuitry required for transmitting and receiving – modulation,
demodulation, amplifiers, filters, mixers, and so on.
4.Sensors and actuators
Sensors can be roughly categorized into three categories
Passive, omnidirectional sensors - These sensors can measure a physical quantity
at the point of the sensor node without actually manipulating the environment by
active probing – in this sense, they are passive. Moreover, some of these sensors
actually are self-powered in the sense that they obtain the energy they need from
the environment. Typical examples for such sensors include thermometer, light
sensors, vibration, microphones, humidity, mechanical stress or tension in
materials, chemical sensors sensitive for given substances, smoke detectors, air
pressure, and so on.
Passive, narrow-beam sensors These sensors are passive as well, but have a well-
defined notion of direction of measurement. A typical example is a camera, which
can “take measurements” in a given direction, but has to be rotated if need be.
Active sensors This last group of sensors actively probes the environment, for
example, a sonar or radar sensor or some types of seismic sensors, which generate
shock waves
• Actuators
• In a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), an actuator is a device that takes action
based on data received from sensors or commands from a control system.
• While sensors collect and transmit environmental data (e.g., temperature,
humidity, or motion), actuators perform physical actions such as turning on a
motor, opening a valve, or adjusting lighting.
• Examples of Actuators in WSNs:
• Smart Homes: Thermostats adjust room temperature based on sensor readings.
• Agriculture: Irrigation systems activate when soil moisture sensors detect
dryness.
• Industrial Automation: Machines shut down if sensors detect overheating.
5.Power supply of sensor nodes
• For untethered wireless sensor nodes, the power supply is a crucial system
component.
• There are essentially two aspects: First, storing energy and providing power in the
required form; second, attempting to replenish consumed energy by
“scavenging” it from some node-external power source over time.
• Storing power is conventionally done using batteries.
• Traditional batteries
• The power source of a sensor node is a battery, either nonrechargeable (“primary
batteries”) or, if an energy scavenging device is present on the node, also
rechargeable (“secondary batteries”).
• Types & Densities: Zinc-air (highest energy density), lithium, NiMH, and NiCd.
• Challenges: High capacity, load handling, low self-discharge, efficient recharging,
and leveraging relaxation effects
• Alternatives: Fuel cells, micro heat engines, nuclear sources, and capacitors (gold
caps).
• DC–DC Conversion
• Batteries alone are insufficient as a direct power source for sensor nodes due to
voltage drops. This affects circuit performance, reducing oscillator frequencies
and transmission power. A DC-DC converter regulates voltage, ensuring stable
operation. However, it increases current draw from a weakening battery,
accelerating depletion and reducing efficiency.
• Energy scavenging
• The entire energy supply is stored on the node itself – once the fuel supply is
exhausted, the node fails.
• Rather, energy from a node’s environment must be tapped into and made
available to the node – energy scavenging should take place.
• Example: Photovoltaics, Temperature gradients, Vibrations, Pressure variations,
Flow of air/liquid
MAC Protocols for wireless sensor networks
• The fundamental task of any MAC protocol is to regulate the access of a number
of nodes to a shared medium in such a way that certain application-dependent
performance requirements are satisfied.
• Some of the traditional performance criteria are delay, throughput, and fairness,
whereas in WSNs, the issue of energy conservation becomes important.
• Key MAC Protocol Requirements for WSNs:
• Energy Conservation – Reducing power consumption is prioritized over low
latency or high throughput.
• Fairness Not Critical – Nodes collaborate rather than compete for bandwidth.
• Scalability – Must handle dense networks with many nodes in range.
• Robustness – Must adapt to frequent topology changes due to node sleep cycles,
mobility, new deployments, or node failures.
• Energy Problems on the MAC Layer in WSNs
• In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), the transceiver is one of the most power-
hungry components, operating in four states: transmitting, receiving, idling, and
sleeping. Each state has different energy consumption characteristics, and MAC
protocols must be designed to minimize unnecessary energy expenditure.
• Key Energy Problems in MAC Layer:
• Collisions – Cause wasted transmission and reception energy, leading to costly
retransmissions. Solutions include collision avoidance mechanisms (CSMA/CA)
or collision-free methods (TDMA).
• Overhearing – Nodes unnecessarily receive packets not meant for them, wasting
energy. Solutions include adaptive listening or filtering mechanisms to reduce
unwanted packet reception.
• Protocol Overhead – Control packets (e.g., RTS/CTS in CSMA) and per-packet
headers increase energy consumption. Efficient protocol design can minimize this
overhead.
• Idle Listening – A node stays in an idle state, waiting for packets, consuming
energy even when no data is transmitted. Duty cycling and TDMA scheduling
help reduce idle listening.
• Design Considerations for Energy-Efficient MAC Protocols:
• Low-complexity operation – WSN nodes have limited processing power, memory,
and energy, requiring lightweight and efficient MAC algorithms.
• Time synchronization – Necessary for TDMA but can be energy-intensive.
Efficient resynchronization mechanisms must be considered.
• Classification of Energy-Efficient MAC Protocols in WSNs
• Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) MAC protocols are designed primarily to
conserve energy. These protocols are categorized based on how they mitigate
specific energy problems.
• Low duty cycle protocols
• Contention-Based MAC Protocols
• Schedule-Based MAC Protocols
• IEEE 802.15.4 Protocol
 MAC Protocols
Classification

Low duty cycle IEEE 802.15.4

protocols and Contention-
Schedule-Based Protocol
wakeup concepts Based MAC
MAC Protocols
Protocols

Traffic-adaptive
CSMA protocols medium access
PAMAS SMACS protocol
LEACH
(TRAMA)

Sparse topology
The mediation and energy
S-MAC device protocol management
(STEM)
Low duty cycle protocols and wakeup concepts

• Low duty cycle protocols try to avoid spending (much) time

in the idle state and to reduce the communication activities
of a sensor node to a minimum.
• In an ideal case, the sleep state is left only when a node is
about to transmit or receive packets.
• In several protocols, a periodic wakeup scheme is used.
• Periodic Wakeup Scheme (Cycled Receiver Approach):
• Nodes alternate between sleep and listen periods.
• A transmitter (node B) must synchronize with the receiver’s (node A) listen
period.
• Two ways to achieve this rendezvous:
• Beacon method: Node A sends a signal at the start of its listen period.
• Frequent request method: Node B sends repeated requests until one aligns with A’s
wakeup.
Sparse topology and energy management (STEM)
• The STEM protocol is designed to address idle listening in wireless sensor
networks (WSNs) by using a dual-channel approach.
• It is especially useful for event-driven networks, where nodes remain idle
for long periods and only become active when an event occurs.
• For example, when studying the paths of elephants in a habitat.
• From the perspective of a single sensor, most of the time there are no
elephants and the sensor has nothing to report.
• However, once an elephant appears, the sensor reports its readings
periodically.
• In this case there are two states for the network
• monitor state, where nodes are idle and do nothing, and
• also a transfer state, where the nodes exhibit significant sensing and communication
activity.
• For an explanation of STEM, please refer to Figure 5.5. Two different channels are
used, requiring two transceivers in each node: the wakeup channel and the data
channel.
• The data channel is always in sleep mode, except when transmitting or receiving
data packets.
• The underlying MAC protocol is executed solely on the data channel during the
transfer states.
• On the wakeup channel the time is divided into fixed-length wakeup periods of
length T .
• A wakeup period is subdivided into a listen period of length TRx << T and a sleep
period, where the wakeup channel transceiver enters sleep mode, too.
• If a node enters the listen period, it simply switches on its receiver for the wakeup
channel and waits for incoming signals.
• If nothing is received during time TRx, the node returns into sleep mode.
Otherwise the transmitter and receiver start a packet transfer on the data
channel.
• There are two different variants for the transmitter to acquire the receiver’s
attention:
1. STEM-B (Beacon-Based Wakeup)
• The transmitter sends beacon packets periodically on the wakeup channel,
containing its and the receiver’s MAC addresses.
• When the receiver detects the beacon, it sends back an acknowledgment.
• Both nodes then switch to the data channel for communication.
• Pros: Faster wakeup latency (if no beacon collisions)
Cons: Beacons from multiple transmitters may collide.
2. STEM-T (Tone-Based Wakeup)
• The transmitter sends a busy tone (a simple energy signal) on the wakeup
channel.
• The receiver (and other nearby nodes) detects this tone and switches to the data
channel.
• No acknowledgment is sent, reducing overhead.
• Pros: Saves energy by avoiding acknowledgment packets.
Cons: Higher wakeup latency compared to STEM-B.
Sensor-MAC (S-MAC)
• The S-MAC (Sensor-MAC) protocol is designed to reduce idle listening,
collisions, and overhearing in wireless sensor networks without requiring
multiple channels.
• It follows a periodic wakeup scheme where nodes alternate between
listening and sleeping.
• S-MAC adopts a periodic wakeup scheme, that is, each node alternates
between a fixed-length listen period and a fixed-length sleep period
according to its schedule
• A node’s listen period is subdivided into three different phases:
•SYNCH Phase – Nodes exchange synchronization packets to share their schedules.
•RTS Phase – Nodes contend to send Request-to-Send (RTS) packets using a CSMA-
based backoff mechanism.
•CTS Phase – If an RTS is received, the node sends a Clear-to-Send (CTS) packet,
and data transmission extends into the sleep period if needed.
• S-MAC also adopts a message-passing approach
(illustrated in Figure 5.7), where a message is a
larger data item meaningful to the application.
• A longer packet is broken into several shorter
ones.
• S-MAC includes a fragmentation scheme working
as follows.
• A series of fragments is transmitted with only one
RTS/CTS exchange between the transmitting node
A and receiving node B.
• After each fragment, B has to answer with an
acknowledgment packet.
• All the packets (data, ack, RTS, CTS) have a
duration field and a neighboring node C is
required to set its Network Allocation Vector NAV
field accordingly.
• Drawbacks:
• Fixed Wakeup Period: Difficult to adapt to changing network traffic.
• Higher Latency: Nodes must wait for their listen period before
forwarding packets.
• Fairness Trade-off: Nodes may monopolize the channel during long
message transmissions.
Mediation device protocol
• When a node wants to transmit a packet to a neighbor, it has to
synchronize with it.
• One option would be to have the sender actively waiting for query beacon,
but this wastes considerable energy for synchronization purposes only.
• The dynamic synchronization approach achieves this synchronization
without requiring the transmitter to be awake permanently to detect the
destinations query beacon.
• To achieve this, a mediation device (MD) is used.
• The mediation device can receive the query beacons from all nodes in its
vicinity and learn their wakeup periods.
•Node Initiates Transmission:
•Node B wants to send a packet to node C.
•Instead of its usual query beacons, B periodically sends Request to Send (RTS) packets.
•B listens for a response in a short answer window after each RTS.
•Mediation Device Captures RTS:
•The Mediation Device (MD) receives B’s RTS packets.
•The MD then waits for C’s next query beacon.
•MD Responds to C’s Query Beacon:
•Upon detecting C’s beacon, the MD sends a query response packet to C.
•This packet contains B’s address and a timing offset, telling C when to respond.
•Node C Sends Clear to Send (CTS):
•Using the timing offset, C sends a Clear to Send (CTS) packet to B.
•The CTS is timed to align with B’s next RTS packet’s answer window.
•This allows B to learn C’s wakeup period.
•Data Transmission:
•After receiving the CTS, B transmits its data packet to C.
•A waits for an immediate acknowledgment from C.
•Nodes Return to Normal Operation:
•Once the transaction is complete, B resumes sending query beacons as before.
•C also returns to its original periodic cycle, no longer synchronized with A.
• The mediation device protocol offers key advantages:
• No time synchronization is needed between nodes; only the
mediation device (MD) learns their periods.
• Energy burden shifts to the MD, allowing other nodes to remain in
sleep mode most of the time.
• Transmitters can sleep while waiting for synchronization, enabling
very low duty cycles.
• However, drawbacks include:
• Possible beacon collisions when nodes share the same wakeup
period. This can be mitigated by the MD issuing a reschedule control
frame, prompting nodes to randomly adjust their periods.
• The assumption that the MD is energy-unconstrained and sufficiently
available, which may not always be practical.
Contention-based protocols
• In contention-based protocols, a given transmit opportunity toward a
receiver node can in principle be taken by any of its neighbors.
• If only one neighbor tries its luck, the packet goes through the
channel.
• If two or more neighbors try their luck, these have to compete with
each other and in unlucky cases, for example, due to hidden-terminal
situations, a collision might occur, wasting energy for both transmitter
and receiver.
 CSMA protocols
• Each node follows a CSMA protocol with
a finite state automation.
• After receiving a packet, it undergoes a
random delay (to prevent
synchronization), then listens for channel
activity.
• If the medium is busy, it enters backoff
mode, sleeping for a random period
before retrying.
• If the channel is free, it sends an RTS and
waits for a CTS. If CTS is received, data is
transmitted, followed by an
acknowledgment.
• Acknowledgments may be explicit or
piggybacked on forwarded packets.
Power Aware Multi-access with Signaling
(PAMAS)
• PAMAS is originally designed for ad hoc networks. It provides a
detailed overhearing avoidance mechanism while it does not consider
the idle listening problem.
• The protocol combines the busy-tone solution and RTS/CTS
handshake similar to the MACA protocol.
• A distinctive feature of PAMAS is that it uses two channels:
• a data channel and
• a control channel.
• All the signaling packets (RTS, CTS, busy tones) are transmitted on the
control channel, while the data channel is reserved for data packets.
• Let us consider an idle node x to which a new packet
destined to a neighboring node y arrives.
• First, x sends an RTS packet on the control channel without
doing any carrier sensing. This packet carries both x’s and y’s
MAC addresses. If y receives this packet, it answers with a
CTS packet if y does not know of any ongoing transmission in
its vicinity.
• Upon receiving the CTS, x starts to transmit the packet to y
on the data channel. When y starts to receive the data, it
sends out a busy-tone packet on the control channel.
• If x fails to receive a CTS packet within some time window, it
enters the backoff mode, where a binary exponential backoff
scheme is used
• Now, let us look at the nodes receiving x’s RTS packet on the control
channel. There is the intended receiver y and there are other nodes; let z
be one of them.
• If z is currently receiving a packet, it reacts by sending a busy-tone packet,
which overlaps with y’s CTS at node x and effectively destroys the CTS.
• Therefore, x cannot start transmission and z’s packet reception is not
disturbed. Since the busy-tone packet is longer than the CTS, we can be
sure that the CTS is really destroyed.
• Next, we consider the intended receiver y. If y knows about an ongoing
transmission in its vicinity, it suppresses its CTS, causing x to back off.
• Node y can obtain this knowledge by either sensing the data channel or by
checking whether there was some noise on the control channel
immediately after receiving the RTS.
When can a node put its transceivers into sleep
mode
• Suppose that x wakes up and finds the data channel busy. There are two
cases to distinguish:
• Either x has no own packet to send or x wants to transmit.
• Case 1: x has no own packet to send
• In the first case, x desires to go back into sleep mode and to wake up
exactly when the ongoing transmission ends
• Waking up at the earliest possible time has the advantage of avoiding
unwanted delays.
• However, since x may not have overheard the RTS, CTS, or data packet
header belonging to the ongoing transmission, it runs a probing protocol
on the control channel to inquire the length of the ongoing packet.
• Case 2: x wants to transmit
• In the other case, x wakes up during an ongoing transmission and
wants to transmit a packet.
• Therefore, x has not only to take care of ongoing transmissions but
also of ongoing receptions in its vicinity.
• To find the time for the next wakeup, x runs the described probing
protocol for the set of transmitters, giving a time t when the longest
ongoing transmission ends.
 Schedule-based protocols
• Schedule-based communication protocols uses TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), which
assigns specific time slots for nodes to transmit and receive data.
✅ Advantages:
Energy Efficiency: Nodes sleep when they are not scheduled to transmit or receive, reducing
unnecessary power usage.
No Collisions: Since transmissions are pre-planned, there is no interference between nodes, avoiding
the hidden-terminal problem (where two nodes unknowingly interfere).
❌ Disadvantages:
Difficult Setup & Maintenance: Managing schedules requires extra communication (signaling
traffic), which increases overhead.
Time Synchronization Issues: Nodes need precise clocks to align time slots, but cheap sensors’ clocks
drift, requiring frequent resynchronization.
Inflexible to Load Changes: If a node has unused time slots, it can’t easily share them with others,
leading to inefficiency.
High Memory Use: Nodes must store scheduling data, which can be a problem for devices with
limited memory.
Hard to Assign Schedules in Distributed Networks: Creating conflict-free schedules is complex,
especially without a central controller.
Low-energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy
(LEACH)
• The LEACH protocol assumes a dense sensor network of homogeneous,
energy-constrained nodes, which shall report their data to a sink node.
• In LEACH, a TDMA-based MAC protocol is integrated with clustering and a
simple “routing” protocol.
• LEACH partitions the nodes into clusters and in each cluster a dedicated
node, the clusterhead, is responsible for creating and maintaining a TDMA
schedule; all the other nodes of a cluster are member nodes.
• To all member nodes, TDMA slots are assigned, which can be used to
exchange data between the member and the clusterhead; there is no peer-
to-peer communication.
• The clusterhead aggregates the data of its members and transmits it
to the sink node or to other nodes for further relaying.
• Since the sink is often far away, the clusterhead must spend
significant energy for this transmission. For a member, it is typically
much cheaper to reach the clusterhead than to transmit directly to
the sink.
• The clusterheads role is energy consuming since it is always switched
on and is responsible for the long-range transmissions.
• If a fixed node has this role, it would burn its energy quickly, and after
it died, all its members would be “headless” and therefore useless.
• Therefore, this burden is rotated among the nodes.
• Specifically, each node decides independent of other nodes whether
it becomes a clusterhead or not.
• The protocol is round based, that is, all nodes make their decisions
whether to become a clusterhead at the same time and the
noncluster nodes have to associate to a clusterhead subsequently.
• The noncluster nodes choose their clusterhead based on received
signal strengths.
• This avoids a situation where a border node belonging to clusterhead
A distorts transmissions directed to clusterhead B, shown in Figure
5.10.
• A critical network parameter is the percentage of nodes that are
clusterheads.
• If there are only a few clusterheads, the expected distance between a
member node and its clusterhead becomes longer and therefore the
member has to spend more energy to reach its clusterhead
• On the other hand, if there are many clusterheads, there will be more
energy expensive transmissions from clusterheads to the sink and less
aggregation.
• Therefore, there exists an optimum percentage of clusterheads, If
this optimum is chosen, LEACH can achieve a seven to eight times
lower overall energy dissipation compared to the case where each
node transmits its data directly to the sink.
• In addition, since LEACH distributes the clusterhead role fairly to
all nodes, they tend to die at about the same time.
• The protocol is organized in rounds and each round is
subdivided into a setup phase and a steady-state phase (Figure
5.11).
• The setup phase starts with the self-election of nodes to
clusterheads.
• In the following advertisement phase, the clusterheads inform
their neighborhood with an advertisement packet.
• The clusterheads contend for the medium using a CSMA
protocol with no further provision against the hidden-terminal
problem.
• The noncluster nodes pick the advertisement packet with the
strongest received signal strength.
• In the following cluster-setup phase, the members inform their
clusterhead (“join”), again using a CSMA protocol. After the cluster
setup-phase, the clusterhead knows the number of members and
their identifiers.
• It constructs a TDMA schedule, picks a CDMA code randomly, and
broadcasts this information in the broadcast schedule subphase.
After this, the TDMA steady-state phase begins.
• The clusterhead is switched on during the whole round and the
member nodes have to be switched on during the setup phase and
occasionally in the steady-state phase, according to their position in
the cluster’s TDMA schedule.
Self-Organizing Medium Access Control for
Sensor Networks (SMACS)
•Purpose: Establishes exclusive, collision-free TDMA links between sensor
nodes.
•Key Features:
•Combines neighbor discovery and TDMA schedule assignment.
•Uses frequency division (many available channels) or CDMA codes.
•Nodes divide time into superframes (fixed-length but locally managed).
•Bidirectional links require two separate unidirectional links.
•No central control—nodes self-organize using local communication.
• SMACS Link Setup & Challenges
• Link Setup Process:
• Neighbor Discovery: Nodes broadcast invitation (TYPE1) and respond
(TYPE2).
• Link Negotiation: Winning node picks time slots and frequency (TYPE3,
TYPE4).
• Schedule Synchronization: Nodes adopt a common superframe phase
when possible.
• Periodic Re-discovery: Adapts to topology changes.
• Challenges:
• Superframe Length Selection: Must accommodate highest node degree.
• Dense Networks: Nodes may wake up frequently without receiving
packets.
• Low Traffic: Unused slots lead to unnecessary energy consumption.
Traffic-adaptive medium access protocol (TRAMA)
• Purpose: Enables collision-free, adaptive TDMA-based scheduling in
sensor networks.
• Key Features:
• Time-Synchronized Operation: Divides time into random access and
scheduled-access periods.
• Two-Hop Neighborhood Awareness: Nodes exchange topology and schedule
information.
• Distributed Slot Allocation: Uses a global hash function to compute slot
priorities.
• Adaptive Election Algorithm: Resolves slot conflicts and reuses unused slots.
• Energy Efficiency: Allows nodes to sleep when not transmitting or receiving.
• Slot Allocation Process:
• Random Access Phase: Nodes exchange neighborhood and schedule
information.
• Priority-Based Scheduling: Each node computes slot priorities using a hash
function:
• Highest priority node in a two-hop neighborhood wins the slot.
• Unused slots are reassigned to other nodes.
• Adaptive Election: Resolves conflicting slot priorities in dense networks.
• Sleep Mode: Nodes enter sleep mode unless they are transmitters or
expected receivers.
• Challenges:
• High Computation & Memory Requirements in dense networks.
• Delays in Low-Traffic Scenarios compared to contention-based protocols.
• Global Time Synchronization Needed for effective scheduling.
IEEE 802.15.4 Zigbee
• General Characteristics
• The targeted applications for IEEE 802.15.4 are in the area of wireless
sensor networks, home automation, home networking, connecting
devices to a PC, home security, and so on.
• Physical Layer Overview
• The physical layer offers bitrates of
• 20 kbps (a single channel in the frequency range 868–868.6 MHz),
• 40 kbps (ten channels in the range between 905 and 928 MHz) and
• 250 kbps (16 channels in the 2.4 GHz ISM band between 2.4 and 2.485 GHz with 5-MHz
spacing between the center frequencies).
• There are a total of 27 channels available, but the MAC protocol uses only one of
these channels at a time; it is not a multichannel protocol.
• Superframe structure
The coordinator of a star network operating in the beaconed mode
organizes channel access and data transmission with the help of a
superframe structure displayed in Figure 5.14.
Topology Control
• Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) consist of many small nodes.
• Nodes can interfere if too many are active simultaneously.
• High transmission power causes interference and energy drain.
• Too many neighbors complicate MAC and routing protocols.
• Topology control helps manage connections efficiently
What is topology control?
• Adjusting network topology for better performance
• Objectives: Reduce energy consumption, minimize interference, maintain connectivity.
• Metrics for Evaluating Topology Control
• Connectivity: Ensuring all nodes remain reachable.
• Stretch factors: Maintaining efficient paths.
• Robustness: Ability to adapt to changes.
• Overhead: Reducing extra message exchange.
• Options for Topology Control
• Reducing active nodes:
• Switch off nodes periodically.
• Helps extend the overall network lifetime.
• Rotation of active nodes ensures network coverage.
• Controlling active links:
• Limits the number of direct neighbors for each node.
• Reduces communication overhead and interference.
• Restrict unnecessary connections.
• Hierarchical structures: Assign special roles to some nodes.
Cluster-Based Approach
Nodes are divided into clusters with a leader (clusterhead).
Clusterheads manage intra-cluster communication.
Reduces routing complexity and improves efficiency.
Backbone-Based Approach
A subset of nodes (Connected Dominating Set) forms a backbone.
Used for efficient routing and data aggregation.
Minimizes redundant transmissions and energy waste.
Controlling topology in flat networks – Power control
• Challenges in Power Control:
• Higher power increases collisions and reduces battery life.
• Lower power may cause network disconnections.
• Requires adaptive techniques to balance connectivity and efficiency.
• Techniques:
• Fixed Power Control: All nodes transmit at the same power level.
• Adaptive Power Control: Nodes adjust power based on network conditions.
• Topology-Aware Power Control: Uses network structure to optimize power
settings.
• Benefits of Power Control:
• Extends network lifetime by reducing unnecessary transmissions.
• Improves routing efficiency and reduces MAC layer contention.
• Enhances scalability by limiting interference in dense deployments.
• Topology Control Algorithms
• Relative Neighborhood Graph (RNG): Removes longest edges in triangles.
• Removes unnecessary links to create a sparse topology.
• Ensures connectivity while minimizing interference.
• Commonly used in distributed topology control.
• Gabriel Graph (GG): Ensures no node is inside a circle between two nodes.
• Connects two nodes only if no other node exists within their circle.
• Results in a more energy-efficient topology.
• Reduces transmission power requirements.
• Delaunay Triangulation: Constructs efficient network paths.
• Maximizes the minimum angle in the network graph.
• Used for efficient routing and data dissemination.
• Helps maintain strong connectivity while reducing interference.
• Hierarchical networks by dominating sets
• A dominating set (DS) is a subset of nodes where every node in the
network is either in the DS or directly connected to a node in the DS.
• Connected Dominating Set (CDS)
• A special type of DS where the selected nodes form a connected structure.
• Acts as a virtual backbone for network communication.
• Why Use a Dominating Set?
• Reduces redundant transmissions in the network.
• Improves energy efficiency by minimizing active nodes.
• Enhances scalability by simplifying routing.
• Applications of Connected DS:
• Routing Optimization: Provides an efficient backbone for data transmission.
• Energy Conservation: Minimizes active nodes, saving battery life.
• Load Balancing: Helps distribute network traffic efficiently.
• Advantages of CDS-Based Hierarchy:
• Reduces control overhead and packet collisions.
• Enhances fault tolerance by maintaining connectivity.
• Improves overall network performance in large-scale deployments.
• Hierarchical networks by clustering
• Clustering is a process of grouping nodes in a network into clusters, where each
cluster has a designated leader known as a clusterhead.
•Cluster Formation Methods:
•Maximal Independent Set Approach: Ensures that clusterheads are well-
distributed and no two clusterheads are direct neighbors.
•Weight-Based Clustering: Nodes with higher weight factors (e.g., energy
level, mobility, connectivity) become clusterheads.
•Emergent Clustering Algorithms: Nodes dynamically become
clusterheads based on local interactions rather than pre-defined rules.
•Cluster Maintenance:
•Rotating Clusterheads: Distributes energy consumption by periodically
changing clusterheads (e.g., LEACH protocol).
•Multihop Clusters: Allows larger clusters where not all nodes directly
connect to the clusterhead, useful for routing and data aggregation​
• Combining hierarchical topologies and power control
•Hierarchical topologies (e.g., clusters, backbones) optimize routing and scalability.
•Power control adjusts transmission power to conserve energy and reduce
interference.
•Combining these two methods improves network lifetime and connectivity
efficiency
• Pilot-Based Power Control
•Clusterheads manage power control, similar to cellular networks.
•Two types of power control:
•Pilot Signal Power Control: Determines cluster membership.
•Data Packet Power Control: Ensures efficient and error-free communication.
•Advantages:
•Centralized power control simplifies network management.
•Adapts to varying transmission conditions.
•Reduces redundant communication overhead
• Ad hoc Network Design Algorithm (ANDA)
•Approach:
•Clusterheads adjust their transmission range to balance network energy
consumption.
•Goal: Maximize network lifetime by distributing energy load evenly.
•Cluster size is dynamically controlled based on node distribution and energy
levels.
•Optimization Considerations:
•Clusterheads should be chosen based on initial energy reserves.
•Transmission radius and number of cluster members impact network lifespan.
•A greedy algorithm assigns nodes to the most energy-efficient clusterhead
• Distributed vs. Centralized Topology Control
• Centralized: One node computes the topology (e.g., using a base station).
• Distributed: Each node makes local decisions based on neighbors.
• Trade-offs: Distributed methods scale better but are harder to optimize.
• Conclusions
• Topology control – namely, power control, backbones, and clustering
– is a powerful means to change the appearance and properties of a
network for other protocol layers:
• MAC layers see reduced contention, routing protocols work on a
different graph, changes in neighborhood relationships can be
hidden.
• Judicious use of topology control can significantly improve
operational aspects of a network, such as lifetime.
• However, determining an optimal topology is usually prohibitively
expensive and appropriate approximations and heuristics have to be
used instead.
•.

Routing Protocols
• In a multihop network, intermediate nodes have to relay packets from the source
to the destination node. Such an intermediate node has to decide to which
neighbor to forward an incoming packet not destined for itself.
• Typically, routing tables that list the most appropriate neighbor for any given
packet destination are used. The construction and maintenance of these routing
tables is the crucial task of a distributed routing protocol.
•Forwarding Strategies:
•Flooding: Sends packets to all neighbors, ensuring delivery but consuming high
energy.
•Gossiping: Sends packets randomly, reducing overhead but increasing delays.
•Controlled Flooding: Uses topology-aware algorithms to limit unnecessary
transmissions.
•Efficient Forwarding: Requires knowledge of network topology, ensuring packets
take optimal paths with minimal cost
• Routing Types:
• Proactive (Table-driven): Maintains up-to-date routes at all times (e.g., DSDV,
CGSR, WRP).
• Reactive (On-demand): Finds routes only when needed (e.g., DSR, AODV, TORA).
• Hybrid Approaches: Combine proactive and reactive elements.
• Node-Centric vs. Data-Centric Routing:
• Traditional routing addresses specific nodes.
• Data-centric routing delivers packets based on attributes rather than node
identity, useful for data collection and event dissemination.
• Different routing approaches in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)
•Unicast: One node sends packets to a specific, uniquely identified node.
•Broadcast: A node sends packets to all nodes in the network.
•Multicast: A node sends packets to a specified group of nodes.
•Geographic Routing: A special form of multicast where packets are sent to all
nodes in a specific geographic region, requiring nodes to be aware of their
positions.
Gossiping and agent-based unicast forwarding
• Basic Idea
• Forwarding schemes without routing tables are useful when table creation is too
costly or unnecessary. The simplest approach is flooding (forwarding every
message), but more efficient methods are preferred. Instead of using topology-
control mechanisms, these approaches aim to determine forwarding sets locally.
• An early approach, rumor mongering, treats data distribution like epidemics—
nodes randomly forward updates until enough nodes have received them. This
minimizes overhead while ensuring fast dissemination.
• In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), random forwarding benefits from the
wireless multicast advantage, where a single transmission reaches multiple
neighbors. However, its effectiveness depends on the MAC protocol and the cost
of sending/receiving.
• Random Walks
• Instead of flooding, random walks forward packets probabilistically. A packet acts
as an "agent" moving randomly to a neighbor. To speed up delivery, multiple
agents can be sent in parallel. However, pure random walks are inefficient for
WSNs, so extensions have been proposed.
• Rumor Routing
• Instead of flooding, only a few paths are created using agents that propagate
event information. Query agents then travel through the network until they
intersect with an event path, enabling efficient event detection.
• Intersection Probability: ~69% for two paths, ~99.7% for five.
• Enhancements: Agents can carry multiple event details and optimize paths when
possible.
• Figure 11.2(a) where the node in the middle detects an event and
installs two event paths in the network (shaded areas).
• Once a node tries to query an event (or to detect whether an event
actually exists), it also sends out one or more agents.
• Such a search agent is forwarded through the network until it
intersects with a preinstalled event path and then knows how to find
an event.
• In Figure 11.2(b), the node in the lower left corner sends out such a
search, which happens to propagate upward until it intersects with
one event path.
• All these agent propagations are limited to avoid endless circling of
data.
Energy-efficient unicast
• Energy-efficient unicast routing aims to minimize energy consumption in wireless
sensor networks (WSNs). While traditional shortest-path algorithms can be
adapted by assigning energy costs to links, selecting the best metric depends on
the specific routing objective.
• Key Approaches to Energy Efficiency:
• Minimize Energy per Packet
• Selects routes with the lowest total energy consumption per packet.
• Example: In Figure 11.3, route A-B-E-H (3 units) is optimal, while a minimum-
hop route (A-D-H) uses 6 units due to high-power links.
• Maximize Network Lifetime
• Focuses on keeping the network functional for as long as possible,
considering:
• Time until first node failure
• Time until network coverage is lost
• Time until network partitioning occurs
• Some optimization problems (e.g., preventing partitioning) are NP-complete,
requiring approximation techniques.
•Routing Based on Battery Status
•Maximum Total Available Battery Capacity:
•Chooses routes with the highest total battery capacity but avoids unnecessary detours.
•Example: Route A-B-E-G-H has high battery capacity but is inefficient due to extra hops.
•Minimum Battery Cost Routing (MBCR):
•Uses the sum of reciprocal battery levels to avoid overloading nodes with low energy.
•Example: Route A-D-H (1/3) is preferred over A-C-F-H (1.25).
•Min-Max Battery Cost Routing (MMBCR):
•Selects paths where the weakest node has the highest possible battery.
•Conditional Max-Min Battery Capacity Routing (CMMBCR):
•If possible, selects the most energy-efficient route; otherwise, maximizes minimum battery level.
•Minimize Variance in Power Usage
•Ensures that power depletion is balanced across the network to avoid premature node failures.
•Minimum Total Transmission Power Routing (MTPR)
•Minimizes total transmission power in both direct and multihop networks.
Multipath unicast routing
• Traditional unicast routing focuses on finding a single energy-efficient path between a sender and a receiver.
However, multipath routing extends this by discovering multiple paths, allowing for:
• Load balancing: Spreading energy consumption across multiple routes.
• Fault tolerance: Quickly switching to alternate paths if a node or link fails.
• Key Aspects of Multipath Routing:
• The goal is to find k disjoint paths (avoiding common links/nodes except source & destination).
• The routing protocol establishes multiple paths; the forwarding phase dynamically selects the best available
route(s).
• Enhances robustness in wireless networks by mitigating link/node failures.
• Sequential Assignment Routing
• Multipath routing typically incurs k times more overhead than single-path routing. To mitigate this e
Sequential Assignment Routing (SAR) is proposed, which:
• Limits disjointness requirements to nodes near the sink, as these are most prone to failure due to battery
depletion.
• Constructs routing trees outward from each sink neighbor, ensuring most nodes belong to multiple trees.
• Allows the source to select a path based on battery availability and performance metrics (e.g., delay).
• Constructing energy-efficient
secondary paths
• When designing secondary paths as
backups for a failed primary path
consider maintaining energy
efficiency instead of battery
capacity.
• Path Construction:
• Disjoint paths: The sink reinforces
the best neighbor for the primary
path and sends an alternate path
reinforcement to the next-best
neighbor.
• Braided paths: Each node on the
primary path reinforces an
alternate route by avoiding only the
next upstream node.
• Simultaneous Transmissions Over Multiple Paths
• Failover times in multipath routing improve over single-path solutions but
still involve detection delays.
• A solution is to transmit packets over multiple paths simultaneously,
ensuring faster delivery and higher success rates.
• Packet replication over node-disjoint paths (trades resource use for lower error
rates).
• Forward Error Correction (FEC): FEC-based multipath schemes can be used
• Hybrid approach: Split a packet and its error correction data across multiple paths,
reducing errors while balancing overhead.
• Randomized Path Selection for Load Balancing
• Using less energy-efficient paths can help distribute the load across the
network, optimizing battery use.
• Each node estimates energy cost for all neighbors.
• Packets are forwarded randomly based on proportional energy cost, preventing
overuse of a single path.
• Nodes with tethered power sources take on more load.
• These nodes announce their availability, optimizing network efficiency.
 Broadcast and multicast
•Multicast routing is the process of distributing data to a subset of nodes rather
than all nodes (broadcasting) or a single destination (unicast).
•The challenge is to minimize forwarding overhead while ensuring all destinations
receive the data.
• Multicast Routing Approaches
• Source-Based Trees
• Each source builds its own tree to reach all its destinations.
• Two main optimization goals:
• Minimize total link cost .
• Minimize max cost to any destination
• Shared Core-Based Trees
• A single tree is shared among all sources, reducing overhead.
• A core node (not necessarily a source or destination) is selected as the root.
• Disadvantage: Paths can be longer, and the core node becomes a single point of failure (solved by
multicore trees).
• Mesh-Based Multicast
• More redundant than trees: Additional links improve failure resilience.
• More complex forwarding structures required to handle cycles.
Geographic routing
• Key Ideas:
• Geographic Addressing:
• Routing based on physical locations, e.g., “any node in a given region” or “the
node closest to a point.”
• Needed for applications requiring location-based data collection or region-
specific communication.
• Position-Based Routing:
• Utilizes known positions of nodes to guide packet forwarding.
• Requires a location service to map a node’s identifier to its estimated
position.
• Benefits: Smaller routing tables and simplified routing decisions.
• Geocasting
• Geocasting is a specialized form of multicasting, where data is sent to
all nodes within a specified geographic region. Position information
is used to enhance efficiency.
• Types of Geocasting Protocols:
1. Flooding-Based Approaches
2. Directional Routing Enhancements
3. Grid-Based Geocasting
4. Mesh-Based Geocasting
5. Unicast-Based Geocasting
6. Trajectory-Based Forwarding
Mobile nodes
• WSNs experience three key types of mobility:
• Sensor Node Mobility – Nodes change positions, affecting network topology.
• Data Sink Mobility – Data collection points move, requiring dynamic routing
adjustments.
• Observed Event Mobility – Events of interest shift, demanding continuous tracking.
• Mobile Data Collectors
• When multihop communication is inefficient (e.g., sparse networks with high energy
costs), Mobile Ubiquitous LAN Extensions (MULEs) provide an alternative. MULEs are
mobile devices (e.g., robots, animals, or humans) that:
• Move between sensor nodes, collect and buffer data.
• Occasionally visit data sinks to offload collected data.
• Mobile Regions
• In some applications (e.g., tracking mobile events), a moving destination
zone is needed instead of a static one. Mobicast enables data delivery to
all nodes covered by the destination zone at time t. The key challenge is
ensuring timely data delivery. The solution involves forwarding data to a
preceding forwarding zone, anticipating the movement of the destination
zone.
• Mobile Sink
• Managing mobile sinks in WSNs requires efficient data delivery
mechanisms. Key approaches include:
• Geographic Mesh Networking – Data sources broadcast via a mesh, and
sinks subscribe at the nearest mesh point.
• Multicast Tree with Proxy Nodes – Each mobile sink associates with a fixed
sensor node acting as a proxy in a multicast tree. Tree maintenance occurs
via:
• Proxy Switching – When movement makes the old proxy inefficient, a new proxy
joins, and the old one is relieved.
• Unicast Extension – If the old proxy remains useful, a temporary multihop unicast
link to the new location is established.