ConverSS: A Hybrid MAC/Routing Solution for Small-Scale, Convergecast Wireless Networks

In applications involving networks of sensor-equipped autonomous vehicles, it is crucial to have an energy-efficient communication protocol due to the limited on-board batteries. Unlike traditional sensor networks, vehicle sensor networks typically consist of only a small number of nodes. We exploit this fact in our protocol design by optimizing specifically for these mobile small-scale networks. Our proposed solution, ConverSS, is a hybrid MAC/routing protocol that is energy-efficient for vehicle sensor networks. We have evaluated the protocol through simulation in ns-2 and verified its operation in a testbed network deployment. The results show that ConverSS is robust to real-world link impairments and that it outperforms common layered solutions by as much as a factor of 10.