UNIT IV WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS (WSNS)

AND MAC PROTOCOLS

Single node architecture: hardware and software
components of a sensor node - WSN Network
Architecture: typical network architectures- data
relaying and aggregation strategies -MAC layer
Protocols: self-organizing, Hybrid TDMA/FDMA
and CSMA based MAC- IEEE 802.15.4.
 UNIT IV WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS (WSNS)
AND MAC PROTOCOLS
 Sensor networks are highly distributed networks
of small, lightweight wireless nodes, deployed in
large numbers to monitor the environment or
system by the measurement of physical
parameters such as temperature, pressure, or
relative humidity.
 Building sensors has been made possible by the
recent advances in micro-electro mechanical
systems (MEMS) technology
 Each node of the sensor network consists of three subsystems:
 Sensor subsystem which senses the environment
 Processing subsystem which performs local computations on
the sensed data
 Communication subsystem which is responsible for message
exchange with neighboring sensor nodes.

 While individual sensors have limited sensing region, processing

power, and energy, networking a large number of sensors gives
rise to a robust, reliable, and accurate sensor network covering
a wider region.

 The network is fault-tolerant because many nodes are sensing

the same events. Further, the nodes cooperate and collaborate
on their data, which leads to accurate sensing of events in the
environment.
 Single node architecture
• Basic requirements
• Survey the main components of the
composition of a node for a wireless sensor
network (Controller, radio modem, sensors,
batteries)
• Understand energy consumption aspects for
these components
• Putting into perspective different operational
modes and what different energy/power
consumption means for protocol design
• Operating system support for sensor nodes
Hardware and software components of a sensor
node
Main hardware components of a sensor node
1 controller
2 memory
3 sensor and actuators
4 communication device
5 power supply
 Controller
 It is the core of a wireless sensor node
 It collect the data from the sensors, processes this data,
decides when and where to send it, receives data from
other sensor nodes and decides on the actuators behavior
 It has to execute various programs, ranging from time –
critical signal processing and communication protocols to
application programme, it is CPU of the node
 Main options:
• Microcontroller – general purpose processor, optimized for
embedded applications, low power consumption
• DSP – optimized for signal processing tasks, not suitable here
• FPGA – may be good for testing
• ASIC – only when peak performance is needed, no flexibility
 Controller
Example Microcontrollers
 Texas Instruments MSP430
 16-bit RISC core, 4 MHz
 Up to 120 KB flash
 2-10 KB RAM
 12 ADCs, RT clock
 Atmel ATMega
 8-bit controller, 8 MHz
 Up to 128KB Flash
 4 KB RAM
 Memory
 RAM – to store intermediate sensor readings,
packets from other nodes and so on
 Program code can be stored in ROM or EEPROM
or FLASH MEMORY
 Flash memory can also serve as intermediate
storage of data in case RAM is insufficient or
when power supply of RAM should be shut
down for some time
 Communication device
 Which transmission medium?
 Electromagnetic at radio frequencies?
 Electromagnetic, light?
 Ultrasound?
 Radio transceivers transmit a bit- or byte stream
as radio wave Receive it, convert it back into
bit-/byte stream

radio wave
bit stream Radio
Transceiver
 Communication device
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 and convert
them to and from radio waves
 Device that combines both tasks transmit and
receive data in a single entity-tranceivers
 Communication device
Transceiver Characteristics
· Capabilities • Radio performance
· Interface: bit, byte, packet level? – Modulation? (ASK, FSK, …?)
· Supported frequency range? – Noise figure? NF = SNRI/SNRO
· Typically, somewhere in 433 MHz – Gain? (signal amplification)
– 2.4 GHz, ISM band
– Receiver sensitivity? (minimum S to
· Multiple channels? achieve a given Eb/N0)
· Data rates?
– Blocking performance (achieved BER in
· Range? presence of frequency-offset
interferer)
· Energy characteristics – Out of band emissions
· Power consumption to send/receive – Carrier sensing & RSSI characteristics
data? – Frequency stability (e.g., towards
· Time and energy consumption to temperature changes)
change between different states? – Voltage range
· Transmission power control?
· Power efficiency (which percentage
of consumed power is radiated?)
 Communication device
Transceiver operational states:
· Transceivers can be put into different operational states,
typically:
· Transmit
· Receive
· Idle – ready to receive, but not doing so
· Some functions in hardware can be switched off, reducing energy
consumption a little
· Sleep – significant parts of the transceiver are switched off
· Not able to immediately receive something
· Recovery time and startup energy to leave sleep state can be
significant
Example radio transceivers

· Almost boundless variety available · Chipcon CC 2400

· Some examples · Implements 802.15.4
· 2.4 GHz, DSSS modem
· RFM TR1000 family
· 250 kbps
· 916 or 868 MHz
· Higher power consumption
· 400 kHz bandwidth
than above transceivers
· Up to 115,2 kbps
· Infineon TDA 525x family
· On/off keying or ASK
· E.g., 5250: 868 MHz
· Dynamically tuneable output
· ASK or FSK modulation
power
· RSSI, highly efficient power
· Maximum power about 1.4 mW
amplifier
· Low power consumption
· Intelligent power down,
· Chipcon CC1000 “self-polling” mechanism
· Range 300 to 1000 MHz, · Excellent blocking
programmable in 250 Hz steps performance
· FSK modulation
· Provides RSSI
 Wakeup receivers
 Instead of having each node maintain a communication schedule, each
node is equipped with a low power wake - up receiver (WUR) module
which monitors a given channel continuously, as seen on figure .
 When a node wishes to communicate with a neighbor, it first sends a
wake -up call .
 After successful reception and decoding of the wake -up call, the
WUR sends an interrupt signal to the node itself, which can then fire
up its primary radio to engage in efficient high-speed communication
with the sender.
 After the transmission, both nodes resume their usual activities and
go back to sleep, activating their WUR before doing so.
 Even if a WUR module adds cost and hardware complexity, it can
enable significant energy savings while Enabling a low latency
communication scheme.
 For these reasons an operating scheme based on WUR is developed.
Wakeup receivers
Wakeup receivers
Optical communication
Ultra wideband communication
 sensors
• Main categories
– Any energy radiated? Passive vs. active sensors
– Sense of direction? Omnidirectional?
– Passive, omnidirectional
• Examples: light, thermometer, microphones, hygrometer, …
– Passive, narrow-beam
• Example: Camera
– Active sensors
• Example: Radar

• Important parameter: Area of coverage

– Which region is adequately covered by a given sensor?
 Actuators
• Actuators are just about as diverse as sensors
• Whether this controls a motor, a light bulb or
some other physical object is not really of
concern to the way of communication
protocols are design
Energy supply of mobile/sensor nodes
 Energy scavenging
• How to recharge a battery?
– A laptop: easy, plug into wall socket in the evening
– A sensor node? – Try to scavenge energy from
environment
• Ambient energy sources
– Light ! solar cells – between 10 W/cm2 and 15 mW/cm2
– Temperature gradients – 80  W/cm2 @ 1 V from 5K
difference
– Vibrations – between 0.1 and 10000  W/cm3
– Pressure variation (piezo-electric) – 330  W/cm2 from
the heel of a shoe
– Air/liquid flow
(MEMS gas turbines)
 Portable Solar Chargers
• Foldable Solar Chargers
• Solar gorilla
 Software components
• Operating System Challenges
• Usual operating system goals
– Make access to device resources abstract (virtualization)
– Protect resources from concurrent access
• Usual means
– Protected operation modes of the CPU
– Process with separate address spaces
• These are not available in microcontrollers
– No separate protection modes, no MMU
– Would make devices more expensive, more power-hungry
 Possible OS Options
• Try to implement “as close to an operating system” on WSN
nodes
– Support for processes!
– Possible, but relatively high overhead
• Stay away with operating system
– There is only a single “application” running on a WSN node
– No need to protect malicious software parts from each other
– Direct hardware control by application might improve
efficiency
• Currently popular approach
 No OS, just a simple run-time environment
– Enough to abstract away hardware access details
– Biggest impact: Unusual programming model
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
 The design of sensor networks is influenced by
factors such as scalability, fault tolerance, and
power consumption.
 The two basic kinds of sensor network
architecture are
 layered architecture
 Clustered architecture
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
layered architecture:
 A layered architecture has a single powerful base
station (BS), and the layers of sensor nodes around it
correspond to the nodes that have the same hop-
count to the BS.
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
 Layered architectures have been used with in-building wireless
backbones, and in military sensor-based infrastructure, such as
the multi-hop infrastructure network architecture (MINA) .
 In the in-building scenario, the BS acts an access point to a wired
network, and small nodes form a wireless backbone to provide
wireless connectivity. The users of the network have hand-held
devices such as PDAs which communicate via the small nodes to
the BS.
 Similarly, in a military operation, the BS is a data-gathering and
processing entity with a communication link to a larger network. A
set of wireless sensor nodes is accessed by the hand-held devices
of the soldiers.
 The advantage of a layered architecture is that each node is
involved only in short-distance, low-power transmissions to nodes
of the neighboring layers.
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
Unified Network Protocol Framework (UNPF)
 UNPF is a set of protocols for complete
implementation of a layered architecture for
sensor networks.
 UNPF integrates three operations in its protocol
structure:
 network initialization and maintenance
 MAC protocols
 Routing protocols
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
• Network Initialization and Maintenance Protocol
 The network initialization protocol organizes the sensor nodes into different layers, using
the broadcast capability of the BS.
 The BS can reach all nodes in a one-hop communication over a common control channel.
 The BS broadcasts its identifier (ID) using a known CDMA code on the common control
channel.
 All nodes which hear this broadcast then record the BS ID.
 They send a beacon signal with their own IDs at their low default power levels.
 Those nodes which the BS can hear form layer one since they are at a single-hop distance
from the BS.
 The BS now broadcasts a control packet with all layer one node IDs.
 All nodes send a beacon signal again.
 The layer one nodes record the IDs which they hear, and these form layer two, since they
are one hop away from layer one nodes.
 In the next round of beacons, the layer one nodes inform the BS of the layer two nodes,
which is then broadcast to the entire network.
 In this way, the layered structure is built by successive rounds of beacons and BS broadcasts.
 Periodic beaconing updates neighbor information and alters the layer structure if nodes die
out or move out of range.
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
• MAC Protocol
 Network initialization is carried out on a common control channel.
 During the data transmission phase, the distributed TDMA receiver
oriented channel (DTROC) assignment MAC protocol is used.
 Each node is assigned a reception channel by the BS, and channel
reuse is such that collisions are avoided.
 The node schedules transmission slots for all its neighbors and
broadcasts the schedule.
 This enables collision-free transmission and saves energy, as nodes
can turn off when they are not involved in a send/receive operation.
 The two steps of DTROC are channel allocation (the assignment of
reception channels to the nodes) and channel scheduling (the
sharing of the reception channel among the neighbors).
 DTROC avoids hidden terminal and exposed terminal problems by
suitable channel allocation algorithms.
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
• Routing Protocol
 Downlink from the BS is by direct broadcast on the
control channel.
 The layered architecture enables multi-hop data
forwarding from the sensor nodes to the BS.
 The node to which a packet is to be forwarded is
selected considering the remaining energy of the
nodes.
 This achieves a higher network lifetime. Existing ad
hoc routing protocols can be simplified for the
layered architecture, since only nodes of the next
layer need to be maintained in the routing table.
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
 A modification to the UNPF protocol
  set termed the UNPF-R has
been proposed.
 It makes the sensor nodes adaptively vary their transmission range
so that network performance can be optimized.
 While a very small transmission range could cause network
partitioning, a very large transmission range will reduce the spatial
reuse of frequencies.
 The optimal range is determined through an algorithm similar to
simulated annealing.
 This is a centralized control algorithm in which the BS evaluates an
objective function periodically.
 For a transmission range R, the objective function is ,
where N is the total number of sensors in the system; n is the number
of nodes in layer one; is the energy consumption per packet; and d is
the average packet delay.
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
 The BS selects a new transmission range R' as follows.
 
 If no packet is received by the BS from any sensor node for some interval of
time, the transmission range is increased by Δr, a predefined increment.
 Otherwise, the transmission range is either decreased by Δr with
probability 0.5 × (n/N), or increased by Δr with probability [1 - 0.5 × (n/N)].
 The objective function is reevaluated with the new transmission range.
 If , then the transmission range R' is adopted.
 Otherwise, R is modified to R' with probability , where T is the
temperature parameter, as in simulated annealing.
 The advantage of the UNPF-R is that it minimizes the energy × delay metric,
and maximizes the number of nodes which can connect to the BS.
 The minimization of the energy × delay metric ensures that transmission
should occur with minimum delay and with minimum energy consumption.
 The two conflicting objectives are together optimized by minimizing their
product.
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
2. Clustered Architecture
A clustered architecture organizes the sensor nodes into clusters, each governed by a
cluster-head. The nodes in each cluster are involved in message exchanges with their
respective cluster-heads, and these heads send messages to a BS, which is usually an
access point connected to a wired network. Figure represents a clustered architecture
where any message can reach the BS in at most two hops.
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH)
 LEACH is a clustering-based protocol that minimizes energy dissipation in
sensor networks.
 LEACH randomly selects nodes as cluster-heads and performs periodic
reelection, so that the high-energy dissipation experienced by the cluster-
heads in communicating with the BS is spread across all nodes of the
network.
 Each iteration of selection of cluster-heads is called a round. The operation of
LEACH is split into two phases: set-up and steady.
 During the set-up phase, each sensor node chooses a random number
between 0 and 1. If this is lower than the threshold for node n, T(n), the
sensor node becomes a cluster-head.
 The threshold T(n) is calculated as
where P is the desired percentage of nodes which are cluster-heads, r is the
current round, and G is the set of nodes that has not been cluster-heads in the
past 1/P rounds.
 SENSOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE
• This ensures that all sensor nodes eventually spend equal energy. After
selection, the cluster-heads advertise their selection to all nodes.
• All nodes choose their nearest cluster-head when they receive
advertisements based on the received signal strength.
• The cluster-heads then assign a TDMA schedule for their cluster members.
• The steady phase is of longer duration in order to minimize the overhead of
cluster formation.
• During the steady phase, data transmission takes place based on the TDMA
schedule, and the cluster-heads perform data aggregation/fusion through
local computation.
• The BS receives only aggregated data from clusterheads, leading to energy
conservation.
• After a certain period of time in the steady phase, cluster-heads are selected
again through the set-up phase.
 data relaying and aggregation strategies
DATA DISSEMINATION
 Data dissemination is the process by which queries or data are
routed in the sensor network.
 The data collected by sensor nodes has to be communicated to
the BS or to any other node interested in the data.
 The node that generates data is called a source and the
information to be reported is called an event.
 A node which is interested in an event and seeks information
about it is called a sink.
 Traffic models have been developed for sensor networks such as
the data collection and data dissemination (diffusion) models.
 data relaying and aggregation strategies
 In the data collection model, the source sends the data it
collects to a collection entity such as the BS.
 This could be periodic or on demand.
 The data is processed in the central collection entity.
 Data diffusion, on the other hand, consists of a two-step process
of interest propagation and data propagation.
 An interest is a descriptor for a particular kind of data or event
that a node is interested in, such as temperature, intrusion, or
presence of bio-agents.
 For every event that a sink is interested in, it broadcasts its
interest to its neighbors and periodically refreshes its interest.
 data relaying and aggregation strategies
 The interest is propagated across the network, and every node
maintains an interest cache of all events to be reported.
 This is similar to a multicast tree formation, rooted at the sink.
When an event is detected, it is reported to the interested nodes
after referring to the interest cache.
 Intermediate nodes maintain a data cache and can aggregate
the data or modify the rate of reporting data.
 The paths used for data propagation are modified by preferring
the shortest paths and deselecting the weaker or longer paths.
 The basic idea of diffusion is made efficient and intelligent by
different algorithms for interest and data routing.
 data relaying and aggregation strategies
1. Flooding
In flooding, each node which receives a packet broadcasts it if the maximum
hop-count of the packet is not reached and the node itself is not the
destination of the packet.
This technique does not require complex topology maintenance or route
discovery algorithms.
But flooding has the following disadvantages :
• Implosion: This is the situation when duplicate messages are sent to the
same node. This occurs when a node receives copies of the same message
from many of its neighbors.
• Overlap: The same event may be sensed by more than one node due to
overlapping regions of coverage. This results in their neighbors receiving
duplicate reports of the same event.
• Resource blindness: The flooding protocol does not consider the available
energy at the nodes and results in many redundant transmissions. Hence, it
reduces the network lifetime.
 data relaying and aggregation strategies
2. Gossiping
 Gossiping is a modified version of flooding, where the
nodes do not broadcast a packet, but send it to a
randomly selected neighbor.
 This avoids the problem of implosion, but it takes a long
time for a message to propagate throughout the
network.
 Though gossiping has considerably lower overhead
than flooding, it does not guarantee that all nodes of
the network will receive the message.
 It relies on the random neighbor selection to eventually
propagate the message throughout the network.
 data relaying and aggregation strategies
3. Rumor Routing
 Rumor routing is an agent-based path creation algorithm.
 Agents, or "ants,“ are long-lived entities created at random by
nodes.
 These are basically packets which are circulated in the network to
establish shortest paths to events that they encounter.
 They can also perform path optimizations at nodes that they visit.
 When an agent finds a node whose path to an event is longer than
its own, it updates the node's routing table.
 Figure illustrates the working of the rumor routing algorithm. In
Figure, the agent has initially recorded a path of distance 2 to event
E1.
 Node A's table shows that it is at a distance 3 from event E1 and a
distance 2 from E2. When the agent visits node A, it updates its
 MAC PROTOCOLS FOR SENSOR NETWORKS
 MAC protocols in sensor networks must create a network infrastructure
to establish communication links among the thousands of randomly
scattered sensors.
 It must also ensure fair and efficient sharing of communication resources
among the nodes, so that the overall lifetime of the network can be
maximized.
 The challenges posed by sensor network MAC protocols make them
distinct from other wireless based networks.
 Unlike infrastructure-based cellular networks, there is no single
controlling authority in sensor networks, so global synchronization
becomes difficult.
 Power efficiency is of utmost concern in sensor networks.
 They also encounter frequent topology changes due to mobility and
failure.
 These factors emphasize the need for MAC protocols specific to sensor
networks.
 MAC PROTOCOLS FOR SENSOR NETWORKS
 There are three basic kinds of MAC protocols used in sensor networks: fixed allocation,
demand-based, and contention-based.
 Fixed allocation MAC protocols share the common medium through a predetermined
assignment. They are appropriate for sensor networks that continuously monitor and
generate deterministic data traffic, since all nodes which have been allotted the channel can
make use of their slot in each round. Fixed-allocation protocols provide a bounded delay for
each node. However, in the case of bursty traffic, where the channel requirements of each
node may vary over time, a fixed allocation may lead to inefficient usage of the channel.
 Demand based MAC protocols are used in such cases, where the channel is allocated
according to the demand of the node. Though they require the additional overhead of a
reservation process, variable rate traffic can be efficiently transmitted using demand-based
MAC protocols.
 Finally, the contention based MAC protocols involve random-access-based contention for the
channel when packets need to be transmitted. They are again suitable for bursty traffic, but
there is a possibility of collisions and no delay guarantees can be provided. Hence, they are
not suitable for delay-sensitive or real-time traffic.
 MAC PROTOCOLS FOR SENSOR NETWORKS
Self-Organizing MAC for Sensor Networks and Eavesdrop and Register:
• Self-organizing MAC for sensor (SMACS) networks and eavesdrop and register (EAR) are two
protocols which handle network initialization and mobility support, respectively.
• SMACS is a distributed protocol for network initialization and link-layer organization. In this
protocol, neighbor discovery and channel assignment take place simultaneously in a completely
distributed manner.
• A communication link between two nodes consists of a pair of time slots, at a fixed frequency,
which is randomly chosen at the time of establishing the link. Such an assignment is possible in
sensor networks without interference from neighboring nodes because the available bandwidth
is much larger than the data rate required for a message transmission between two nodes.
• This scheme requires synchronization only between communicating neighbors, in order to
precisely define the slots to be used for their communication.
• Power is conserved by turning off the transceiver during idle slots, and using a random wake-up
schedule during the network start-up phase.
• The EAR protocol enables seamless connection of nodes under mobile and stationary conditions.
This protocol makes use of certain mobile nodes, besides the existing stationary sensor nodes, to
offer service to maintain connections.
• Mobile nodes eavesdrop on the control signals and maintain neighbor information. The mobile
nodes assume full control over connections and can drop connections when they move away.
Mobility is hence made transparent to SMACS, since it is independently handled by EAR.
 MAC PROTOCOLS FOR SENSOR NETWORKS
Hybrid TDMA/FDMA
• This is a centrally controlled scheme which assumes that nodes
communicate directly to a nearby BS.
• A pure TDMA scheme minimizes the time for which a node has to be kept
on, but the associated time synchronization costs are very high.
• A pure FDMA scheme allots the minimum required bandwidth for each
connection.
• The hybrid TDMA/FDMA scheme, proposed in, uses an optimum number
of channels, which gives minimum overall power consumption.
• This is found to depend on the ratio of power consumption of transmitter
to receiver. If the transmitter consumes more power, a TDMA scheme is
favored, since it can be switched off in idle slots to save power.
• On the other hand, the scheme favors FDMA when the receiver consumes
greater power. This is because, in FDMA, the receiver need not expend
power for time synchronization by receiving during the guard band
between slots, which becomes essential in a TDMA scheme.
 MAC PROTOCOLS FOR SENSOR NETWORKS
CSMA (Carrier sense multiple access)-Based MAC Protocols
• Traditional CSMA-based schemes are more suitable for point-to-point stochastically
distributed traffic flows.
• On the other hand, sensor networks have variable but periodic and correlated
traffic.
• The sensing periods of CSMA are constant for energy efficiency, while the back-off is
random to avoid repeated collisions.
• Binary exponential back-off is used to maintain fairness in the network.
• An adaptive transmission rate control (ARC) is also used, which balances originating
and route-through traffic in nodes.
• This ensures that nodes closer to the BS are not favored over farther nodes. ARC
uses linear increase and multiplicative decrease of originating traffic in a node.
• The penalty for dropping route-through traffic is higher, since energy has already
been invested in making the packets reach until that node.
• ARC performs phase changes, that is, it staggers the transmission times of different
streams so that periodic streams are less likely to collide repeatedly.
• Hence, CSMA based MAC protocols are contention-based and are designed mainly
to increase energy efficiency and maintain fairness.
MAC PROTOCOLS FOR SENSOR NETWORKS