Energy Efficiency of the IEEE 802.15.4 Standard in Dense Wireless Microsensor Networks: Modeling and Improvement Perspectives

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the energy efficiency of IEEE 802.15.4 in dense wireless microsensor networks, proposing models and strategies to optimize power consumption for industrial applications.

Contribution

It provides a detailed measurement-based analysis and proposes effective radio activation and link adaptation policies to reduce power consumption in dense sensor networks.

Findings

Average power per node can be reduced to 211mW.

Identifies key transceiver components for energy optimization.

Provides models for energy consumption in dense networks.

Abstract

Wireless microsensor networks, which have been the topic of intensive research in recent years, are now emerging in industrial applications. An important milestone in this transition has been the release of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard that specifies interoperable wireless physical and medium access control layers targeted to sensor node radios. In this paper, we evaluate the potential of an 802.15.4 radio for use in an ultra low power sensor node operating in a dense network. Starting from measurements carried out on the off-the-shelf radio, effective radio activation and link adaptation policies are derived. It is shown that, in a typical sensor network scenario, the average power per node can be reduced down to 211m mm mW. Next, the energy consumption breakdown between the different phases of a packet transmission is presented, indicating which part of the transceiver architecture can most effectively be optimized in order to further reduce the radio power, enabling self-powered wireless microsensor networks.