Modeling duty-cycling MAC protocols with pipelined scheduling for linear sensor networks

Linear sensor networks (LSNs) have recently attracted increasing attention due to the vast requirements on the monitoring and surveillance of a structure or area with a linear topology. Being aware that there is little work on the network modeling and analysis based on a duty-cycling MAC protocol for LSNs, in this paper, we model a duty-cycling MAC with a pipelined-scheduling feature for an LSN, where all nodes could generate data. Based on the model, we analyze the network performance in terms of the system throughput and packet delivery latency. Through the extensive OPNET-based simulations, we validate the model and reveal the dependency of the network performance on various system parameters. We believe that our model and analysis could provide an insightful understanding of the behavior of a duty-cycling MAC protocol and aid its design and optimization for a multi-hop LSN.