Abstract
IEEE 802.15.4, a MAC/PHY protocol for low power and low data rate wireless networks, is emerging as the popular choice for various monitoring and control applications. Depending on the application, the traffic load on an IEEE 802.15.4 network may vary over a wide range. The performance of the protocol, measured in terms of the packet loss probability and the packet latency, depends upon the prevailing traffic load among the nodes competing for channel access, the level of interference from the hidden nodes and the configuration of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC parameters. In this paper, we analyze via simulations the impact of different configurable MAC parameters on the performance of beaconless IEEE 802.15.4 networks under different traffic loads and under different levels of interference from the hidden nodes. Based on this analysis, we suggest the values of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC parameters that results in a good tradeoff between the packet loss probability and the packet latency under different conditions.
Highlights
IEEE 802.15.4 [1] is a leading MAC/PHY standard for low power and low data rate wireless sensor networks
It is clear that the increase in the macMaxCSMABackoffs value reduces the CAF probability across all traffic loads (Fig. 5(b)) as more clear channel assessment (CCA) failures are allowed in a transmission attempt before a channel access failure is declared
We analyzed the impact of macMinBE/macMaxBE, macMaxCSMABackoffs and macMaxFrameRetries parameters on the performance of beaconless IEEE 802.15.4 networks under different traffic load conditions and under different levels of interference from the hidden nodes
Summary
IEEE 802.15.4 [1] is a leading MAC/PHY standard for low power and low data rate wireless sensor networks. We use the packet loss rate, the fraction of packets that a node loses because of channel access failures or collision failures and the packet latency, the time interval between the instants when the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC layer receives a packet for transmission and when it reports the success or failure in sending the packet back to the higher layer, as the performance metrics. Collisions due to turnaround time: As mentioned earlier, an IEEE 802.15.4 node may take upto 12 symbols to turn around from RX mode to TX mode and vice-versa This non-negligible turnaround time may cause packet collisions to take place in the following situations: 1) Suppose, a number of nodes, all in each other’s hearing range, are competing for channel access and all of them are doing the CSMA wait at a certain time, the transmission channel is idle. Note that the second collision window exists only if no collision takes place in the first collision window
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