Localized Low-Power Topology Control Algorithms in IEEE 802.15.4-Based Sensor Networks

Sensor networks have emerged as a promising technology with various applications, and power consumption is one of the key issues. Since each full function device can act as a coordinator or a device in IEEE 802.15.4 standard, 802.15.4-based sensor networks have various possible network topologies. In this paper, we try to construct network topologies with small number of coordinators while still maintaining network connectivity. By reducing the number of coordinators, the average duty cycle is reduced and the battery life is prolonged. Three topology control algorithms are proposed in this paper. Self-pruning is the simplest one with O(l) running time. Ordinal pruning significantly improves self-pruning in terms of power saving with O(n) running time. Layered pruning is a tradeoff between the first two pruning algorithms with O(radicn) running time and a little higher power consumption than ordinal pruning. Furthermore, all three algorithms are independent of the physical radio propagation characteristics