SERAN: a semi random protocol solution for clustered wireless sensor networks

SERAN is a two-layer (routing and MAC) protocol for wireless sensor networks in manufacturing plants. At both layers, SERAN combines a randomized and a deterministic approach. While the randomized component provides robustness over unreliable channels, the deterministic component avoids an explosion of packet collisions and allows our protocol to scale with network size. Our solution is based on a mathematical model that characterizes performance accurately without extensive simulations. SERAN is robust against node failures and clock drifts, supports data aggregation algorithms and is easily implementable in any of the existing hardware platforms. Although SERAN was designed for manufacturing plants applications, it can be used in any type of clustered topology. We consider a representative case study and we present simulation results to show SERAN efficiency