Power Management in Networked Sensor Radios A Network Energy Model

A network radio energy model is presented to estimate radio energy consumptions and operation life times in multi-hop wireless ad-hoc sensor radio networks. The model is shown to be a function of radio operating duty cycles and network traffic loads. Numerical results are then given showing examples of radio energy consumptions and operation life times under various traffic conditions and radio operating cycles. It is seen that when employing a power-saving mode such as sleeping during the idling times of a sensor radio, significant energy can be saved so that the sensor operating life can be prolonged. Using the model, system trades can be carried out by users in system planning and power management for sensor network operations, so as to achieve optimized energy-efficient solution and to provide range of system parameters that are operable under various operating conditions.