A Mobility-Aware Node Deployment and Tree Construction Framework for ZigBee Wireless Networks

Abstract

ZigBee is a specification formalized by the IEEE 802.15.4 standard for low-power low-cost low-data-rate wireless personal area networks. In ZigBee networks, a tree topology is often used to construct a wireless sensor network for data delivery applications. However, delivery failures constantly occur in ZigBee wireless applications due to node movements and network topology changes. The conventional route reconstruction method is designed to mitigate the effects of topology changes, but it consumes a large amount of resources. In this paper, we exploit the regularity in node mobility patterns to reduce the frequency of route reconstructions and ensure that the transmission of data to mobile nodes is efficient. To increase the data delivery ratio and mitigate the effects of packet loss caused by the node mobility, we propose a ZigBee node deployment and tree construction framework. In particular, the framework considers the regularity in mobility patterns during the construction of the routing tree and deployment of nodes. It also includes an overhearing mechanism for mobile nodes to further improve the data delivery ratio. We present details of the proposed algorithms for node deployment and tree construction in the framework. The effectiveness of network topologies constructed under the framework is demonstrated through comprehensive ns-2 simulations based on two real-world scenarios. The results show that our approach can construct ZigBee tree topologies with a high data delivery ratio and low routing overhead.