EM-MAC: An energy-aware multi-channel MAC protocol for multi-hop wireless networks

We propose an energy-aware MAC protocol, referred to as EM-MAC, for multi-hop wireless networks with multi-channel access capabilities. EM-MAC relies on iMAC´s efficient channel selection mechanism to resolve the medium contention on the common control channel, enabling wireless devices to select the best available data channel for data communication. Our protocol saves energy by allowing devices that have not gained access to the medium to switch to doze mode until the channel becomes idle again. Simulations results show that EM-MAC reduces energy consumption when compared with iMAC.