Low-power time synchronization algorithm for wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Time synchronization technology is very significant for wireless sensor networks. A typical time synchronization algorithm is applied to the multi-hop topology network, which has the problems of poor time synchronization accuracy, slow convergence speed, and high power consumption. In this paper, a low-power time synchronization algorithm (LPTSA) is proposed. It is based on clustering in a multi-hop environment and adopts a node hierarchy strategy to reduce the synchronous communication overhead. The synchronization error compensation mechanism is adopted to reduce the impact of algorithm synchronization errors. The clustering algorithm divides the whole network into a primary network and a secondary network. By using different time synchronization algorithms in the primary and secondary networks respectively, unnecessary message overhead is reduced. Simulation shows that the algorithm effectively reduces energy consumption and improves synchronization accuracy.