Asynchronous and Heterogeneous Wake-Up Schedules for IoT Neighbor Communication

Abstract

For Internet of Things devices, one of the main power demands comes from the radio interfaces. Hence, duty cycling, i.e., activating and deactivating the radio, becomes essential to energy savings. In asynchronous scenarios, scheduled-based duty cycle methods stand out for their low deployment cost. Recently, the literature reports many studies on asymmetric scheduled-based methods — i.e., different nodes operating under different duty cycles. In this work we propose an extension of this concept: the heterogeneous duty cycling. It allows nodes to operate under schedules generated by distinct methods, resulting in a wider range of duty cycle choices and also a better coexistence between devices from different manufactures. In particular, we study which combinations of methods present the rotation closure property, and what are the average and maximum latencies for those pairs. We also show that heterogeneous duty cycling can improve performance if schedules are properly selected.