Generic Markov model of the contention access period of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC layer

Abstract

The IEEE-802.15.4 standard is poised to become the global standard for low data rate, low energy consumption Wireless Sensor Networks. By assigning the same sets of contention access parameters for all data frames and nodes, the Contention Access Period (CAP) of the slotted IEEE-802.15.4 currently provides an even channel access functionality and no service differentiation. However, some applications may require service differentiation and traffic prioritization support to accommodate high-priority traffic (e.g., alarms). In order to simulate a scenario in which different sets of access parameters for different node classes can be configured, this paper develops a Markov-chainbased model of the CAP of the IEEE-802.15.4-MAC. Our Markov model can be used to evaluate the impact of mixing node classes in important factors like the throughput, energy consumption, probability of delivery and the packet latency. The model has been used to provide traffic differentiation in a high saturation scenario in which a set of nodes can be configured to increase 76% the probability of sending a packet and reduce 58% latency, with a 69% energy penalty, in comparison with a standard scenario. The accuracy of the Markov model is validated by extensive ns-2 simulations.

A Novel IEEE 802.15.4e DSME MAC for Wireless Sensor Networks

“…Authors in [ 4 ] present an analytical model for the MAC scheme of IEEE 802.15.4 to predict the energy consumption as well as the throughput of the saturated and unsaturated traffic rates. A Markov chain based analytical model is introduced in [ 5 ] to evaluate the impact of throughput and energy consumption on the probability of delivering a packet. An integrated cross-layer model of the MAC and physical layers for unslotted IEEE 802.15.4 networks is presented in [ 6 ] by considering explicit effects of multi-path shadow fading channels in the presence of interferers.…”

Design and Analysis of a Low Latency Deterministic Network MAC for Wireless Sensor Networks

“…By considering both saturated and unsaturated traffic to predict the energy consumption, as well as throughput, the authors in [ 6 ] have presented an analytical model for the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol. A Markov chain-based analytical model is introduced in [ 7 ] to evaluate the impact of throughput and energy consumption on the probability of delivering a packet. However, these protocols did not talk about how to allocate the retransmission slots in case of packet failures.…”

Superframe Duration Allocation Schemes to Improve the Throughput of Cluster-Tree Wireless Sensor Networks

“…In this context, we point out a set of works [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ] that provide analytical models for the timing analysis of the contention access period of the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol. Cao et al [ 28 ] present an accurate analytical model to evaluate the behaviour of the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol with periodic traffic, which is a common scenario for WSN-based monitoring applications.…”

“…Several works encompass analytical models for the contention period of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol, based on Markov chains [ 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Basically, each of these analytical models considers a specific set of parameters and characteristics of the CSMA-CA protocol.…”

“…Furthermore, performing a higher number of CCAs does not avoid collisions, as nodes are not linearly spread along the time. Recas et al [ 30 ] proposed an analytical model based on Markov chains, considering several node classes, by setting different values for the CSMA-CA protocol, but without considering inactive periods. Instead, Park et al [ 31 ] provided two Markov chains to model the behaviour of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol, considering both CAP and CFP.…”