A local synchronization protocol for low-power data transmission in wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Advances of the identifying, sensing, and communicating technologies make the applications of Internet of Things (IoT) possible. Among others, the ubiquitous deployment of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is regarded as one of the most significant forces in the IoT. Great progress in micro-electro-mechanical systems and wireless communications make the applications of WSNs more and more accessible. The limited battery power of the sensor node is vitally precious. Therefore, it is important to promote the energy efficiency to stretch the lifetime of the WSNs. In this paper, a low-power data transmission protocol, which includes a dual-frequency model, local synchronization, and channel reservation, is proposed. The results of numerical analyses and simulations show that the proposed protocol presents better energy efficiency without sacrificing end-to-end latency of data transmission in WSNs.