An Energy Efficient MAC Protocol Based on IEEE 802.11 DCF for Wireless Sensor Networks in Port Logistics

Wireless sensor networks have been considered as a promising method for reliably monitoring and information collection. As a rule, the power supplies for sensors in the network are not usually rechargeable or replaceable. Therefore, the energy efficiency is critical for the lifetime. However, due to the high density of sensor nodes, a lot of energy has been wasted on medium access competition because of the serious collisions. To resolve this problem, DCF, the primary medium access control (MAC) technique of IEEE 802.11, has been implemented in our current network, whereas, the obtained throughput and energy efficiency cannot be satisfied with the system requirements. In this paper, we proposed an energy efficient MAC protocol (EEMP) based on basic DCF for our target application. Depending on the EEMP, not only throughput, but also energy efficiency has been enhanced satisfactorily. The simulation results and analysis show that our EEMP protocol can provide higher throughput and lower energy consumption.