TCLA: A Triangular Cross-Layer Architecture for Wireless Sensor Networks

Many cross-layer architectures have been proposed in recent years. Most of them extend the traditional protocol stack in order to keep compatibility, which add complexity by incorporating many components. And very few are revolutionary, which break the stack structure to pursue good performance at the cost of compatibility. In this paper, we propose a network architecture with a layering and non-stack hybrid approach for wireless sensor networks (WSNs), called TCLA (Triangular CL Architecture). TCLA merges the protocol layers of OSI model into three virtual functional modules and organizes them in a non-stack way. TCLA breaks the stack structure and maintains the compatibility at the same time. TCLA aims to provide great flexibility, efficiency and scalability for WSNs. We believe that TCLA can serve as a generic architecture for the development of cross-layer design.