Transmission power control in multihop wireless sensor networks

One of the major challenges in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) deployment is to decrease sensor node´s energy consumption to prolong the lifetime of the finite-capacity batteries. Using multihop has been viewed as one of the main techniques to prolong operational lifetime in wireless sensor networks. In this paper we offer a study on transmission power control (TPC) in multihop WSNs using typical Telosb platform parameters, which is IEEE 802.15.4 standard compliant. We offer a new approach to test TPC in multihop networks at the physical layer and provide energy consumption performance results via simulation and numerical model in multihop WSNs. Our simulation and numerical model results illustrate that energy spent to send packets using short-range multihop path instead of single hop does not necessarily save energy as suggested by some of the earlier research.