MAMAC: A Multi-channel Asynchronous MAC Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Optimal design of Medium Access Control (MAC) layer is one of the most important challenges in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Main problems in MAC layer of WSNs include sleep/wakeup scheduling and its overhead, collision and energy used for retransmission of collided frames. In this paper, an asynchronous and adaptive approach is proposed to design an energy-efficient multi-channel MAC protocol, named MAMAC, utilizing quorum system to extend network lifetime and increase network throughput. MAMAC is highly suitable for data collection applications. Simulations on the OPNET Modeler 14.0 manifest that the proposed protocol can prolong the network lifetime while increasing the network throughput.