A Cross-Layer Approach for Minimizing Interference and Latency of Medium Access in Wireless Sensor Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces IAMAC, a cross-layer MAC protocol for wireless sensor networks that reduces interference and latency, improves energy efficiency, and extends network lifetime through innovative interactions with the network layer.

Contribution

The paper presents IAMAC, a novel CSMA/CA-based MAC protocol with cross-layer design that minimizes interference and latency, outperforming existing protocols like S-MAC and Adaptive S-MAC.

Findings

IAMAC reduces energy consumption and extends network lifetime.

IAMAC achieves lower latency compared to S-MAC.

Using Seda error recovery with IAMAC enhances throughput and lifetime.

Abstract

In low power wireless sensor networks, MAC protocols usually employ periodic sleep/wake schedule to reduce idle listening time. Even though this mechanism is simple and efficient, it results in high end-to-end latency and low throughput. On the other hand, the previously proposed CSMA/CA-based MAC protocols have tried to reduce inter-node interference at the cost of increased latency and lower network capacity. In this paper we propose IAMAC, a CSMA/CA sleep/wake MAC protocol that minimizes inter-node interference, while also reduces per-hop delay through cross-layer interactions with the network layer. Furthermore, we show that IAMAC can be integrated into the SP architecture to perform its inter-layer interactions. Through simulation, we have extensively evaluated the performance of IAMAC in terms of different performance metrics. Simulation results confirm that IAMAC reduces energy consumption per node and leads to higher network lifetime compared to S-MAC and Adaptive S-MAC, while it also provides lower latency than S-MAC. Throughout our evaluations we have considered IAMAC in conjunction with two error recovery methods, i.e., ARQ and Seda. It is shown that using Seda as the error recovery mechanism of IAMAC results in higher throughput and lifetime compared to ARQ.