Energy-efficient wakeup scheduling for maximizing lifetime of IEEE 802.15.4 networks

Deployment of wireless ad hoc networks with scarce energy resources necessitates the design of algorithms that maximize the lifespan of the network, sustain connectivity and facilitate easy maintenance. Nodes in an ad hoc network often need to collaborate with each other to maintain network-connectivity or execute a set of tasks in a distributed fashion. They may have variable rates of energy consumption because some nodes perform energy-intensive tasks such as data-aggregation and data-forwarding more than others. These variations cause early energy depletion of certain nodes which impacts both the connectivity and the overall lifetime of the network. In this paper, we propose a scheme that alleviates this problem in low-traffic networks by tuning the energy consumption of a node during periods of inactivity to its energy-expenditure in the active phase. Since nodes are idle for extended periods of time, this compensation proves significant and we show that the lifetime of an IEEE 802.15.4 network improves up to 65% while ensuring that an end-to-end delay constraint is met.