QoS mechanisms for MAC protocols in wireless sensor networks: a survey

Abstract

With the rapid development in ubiquitous smart sensors, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have started to evolve into numerous applications including healthcare, military, agriculture, transportation, industry, internet of things (IOT), and smart cities. However, satisfying quality of service (QoS) requirements of various application domains remains a challenging issue due to the heterogeneous traffic flows, dynamic network conditions, and resource-constrained nature of sensor nodes. In this regard, application-specific QoS provisioning techniques have received considerable research attention at the medium access control (MAC) layer. This study presents a systematic review of the QoS mechanisms employed at the MAC layer in WSN and also highlights their open research issues. In addition, the survey presents a comparative analysis of various QoS-aware MAC protocols with emphasis on their strengths and limitations. Finally, this survey discusses various potential directions for future research in the field of QoS provisioning at the MAC layer.