Wireless Sensor Networks for Surveillance Applications – A Comparative Survey of MAC Protocols

Wireless sensor nodes are made up of small electronic devices which are capable of sensing, computing and transmitting data from harsh physical environments. These sensor nodes depend on batteries for energy, which get depleted at a fast rate because of the computation and communication operations these nodes have to perform. A well designed MAC (Medium Access Control) protocol can prolong the network life. A set of previously reported MAC layer protocols has abilities to achieve some energy efficiency. In this paper, we first describe some assumptions made for the specific application area of surveillance applications. Then, we compare a set of MAC protocols in terms of their suitability to be used in wireless sensor networks for this type of applications. In addition to energy efficiency, keeping the delays reasonably low is a crucial factor when sensing and reporting an event.