Distributed Minimal Time Convergecast Scheduling in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Abstract-Many applications of sensor networks require the base station to collect all the data generated by sensor nodes. As a consequence many-to-one communication pattern, referred to as convergecast, is prevalent in sensor networks. In this paper, we address the challenge of fast and reliable convergecast on top of the collision-prone CSMA MAC layer. More specifically, we extend previous work by considering the following two situations:(1) the length of the packets generated by nodes is much smaller than the maximum length of a data frame that can be transmitted in one time slot and (2) not every node in the network has data to transmit and for those that have, may have lots of data that require more than one packet. The first situation leads to the possibility of improvement by data piggybacking/aggregation; the second scenario arises in networks where nodes locally store the data and serves query request on-demand. We present distributed minimal time scheduling algorithms for both the cases. Simulation results have shown significant performance improvements of our new approaches over existing solutions.

Optimal convergecast scheduling for hierarchical wireless industrial systems: performance bounds and two‐stage algorithms

“…Finally, they proposed a randomised distributed algorithm that has the expected running time O(logn). Gandham et al [16] proposed a near-optimal distributed convergecast scheduling algorithm for a tree network that requires at most 3N timeslots, where N represents the number of devices in a network. Through extensive simulation, they demonstrate that the actual number of timeslots needed are about 1.5N.…”

“…Different topologies require a different allocation and dissemination methods for convergecast scheduling. Secondly, only field devices in the WIA-PA networks collect data to save energy, while all devices except for the gateway device collect data in [8,12,[14][15][16][17][18][19]. The different data feature is another consideration during the convergecast scheduling process.…”

Quick convergecast in ZigBee beacon-enabled tree-based wireless sensor networks

“…The aim is to increase the degree of parallel transmissions to decrease latencies. Although these results [8,9,11,17] are designed for quick convergecast, the solutions are not compliant to the ZigBee standard for the following two reasons. Firstly, in these works, nodes' wake/sleep times are dynamically changed according to their schedules.…”

“…Children nodes request empty slots according to their demands. In [9], the authors propose a distributed convergecast scheduling algorithm. The basic concept is to connect nodes by a spanning tree.…”

“…The coordinator (resp., an end device) wakes up once to receive its children's packets (resp., to transmit packets to its parent). Secondly, the scheduling of [8,9,11,17] is transmission-based, while ours are receiving-based. The implication is that the former may cause a router to be active multiple times per cycle.…”