Interference Mitigation in IEEE 802.15.4 Networks

In this paper, we consider interference mitigation in IEEE 802.15.4 beacon-enabled cluster-tree networks. The proposed scheme first detects the presence of interference by means of packet-error detection and/or channel sensing in a clusterwise manner. In the presence of interference, the coordinator (or cluster head) fast notifies the presence of interference to its end devices by repeatedly transmitting the channel-handoff command. Then, it avoids the interference by the use of temporary channel hopping through predetermined hopping channels. Finally, it selects the best one among the hopping channels, which will be used as the final handoff channel. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme provides marked performance improvement over conventional schemes even in the presence of heavy interference.