Multi-channel MAC protocol is a vital solution to enhance the capacity of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Most of the existing multi-channel MAC protocols allocate channels based on the neighboring nodes without considering the traffic density of each node. By considering different traffic weights of different nodes we can improve the channel capacity of wireless sensor networks. This paper presents traffic aware channel assignment method based on 3-hop neighborhood which enhances the throughput of 802.15.4 MAC by reducing the number of packets dropped. Simulation results using NS2 demonstrates improvement in throughput and reduction in average end to end delay.
KEYWORDS:Wireless personal area networks; IEEE 802.15.4; packet drop rate; throughput; multi-channel MAC.
I.INTRODUCTIONWSNs consist of large number of inexpensive and low power sensor nodes [1]. Numerous applications of WSN have been proposed, which includes habitat and environmental observation, calamity management, enemy detection etc. Distribution of sensor nodes in these applications is in random/fixed manner. Even though WSN is used for wide verity of applications there are some limitations for WSN. One of the major constraints is the low power capacity of sensor nodes. Each sensor node includes sensing, computing and communication units. Among these units communication unit consumes more power. During MAC design process minimizing the energy consumption of this unit is extremely important [2]. Communication characteristics and traffic pattern awareness contribute more in energy efficient MAC design.Medium access control (MAC) layer is the part of data link layer in the open system interconnection (OSI) layer model and is responsible for proper communication through the channel. Majority of the existing MAC protocols are based on single channel communication. In single channel MAC communication any node within the range can interfere with the ongoing transmission. This may lead to collision and packet loss. In a multi-hop wireless sensor network a successful packet transmission occurs after several retransmissions due to packet collisions. This degrades the network performance.Multi-channel MAC protocol supports parallel transmissions. Simultaneous multiple channel transmission reduces the need for retransmissions. This leads to decrease in packet loss and consequence improvement in the network performance. Most of the existing multi-channel MAC protocols allocate channels based on information about neighboring nodes. In a wireless sensor network, different nodes have different traffic requirements. Traffic pattern of wireless sensor network varies depending on its application. Collision rate of the network is directly proportional to the traffic density of the network. Considering the traffic rate of each node while allocating the channel will improve the performance of the network [3]. Fig. 1 illustrates the channel structure in ISM band.Physical layer can operate data packets with a maximum payload of 127 bytes. This standard has abi...