Modeling the Message Count of the Trickle Algorithm in a Steady-State, Static Wireless Sensor Network

Trickle is a transmission scheduling algorithm developed for wireless sensor networks. The Trickle algorithm determines whether (and when) a message can be transmitted. Therefore, Trickle operation is critical for performance parameters such as energy consumption and available bandwidth. This letter presents an analytical model for the message count of a static Trickle-based network under steady state conditions, as a function of a parameter called the redundancy constant and the average node degree. The model presented is validated by simulation results.