Interference-aware Energy-efficient MAC Protocols for Sensor and Wireless Pervasive Networks

In wireless sensor and pervasive networks, multihop networking is expected to be the norm, rather than exception. However, the current paradigm for medium access control (MAC) in wireless LANs/PANs cannot handle the interference issue well and lead to high collision rates in multihop networks, resulting in considerable waste of energy. Also, it is particularly beneficial to employ directional antennas in sensor networks due to its static topology and requirement for energy efficiency and security. In this paper, we propose to use in sensor and pervasive networks the receiver-centric interference management (RIM) method that supports directional antennas and spread scheduling. RIM for sensor networks employs directional busy-tone and/or directional receiver prohibition to coordinate RIM-aware devices and to protect them from legacy WiFi/CSMA devices. Advantages of RIM-based protocols include collision freedom/controllability, better interference robustness, higher energy efficiency, higher throughput, better security, as well as being not vulnerable to collisions of RTS/CTS messages.