Abstract

This chapter reviews medium access control (MAC), an enabling technology in wireless sensor networks. MAC protocols control how sensors access a shared radio channel to communicate with neighbors. Battery-powered wireless sensor networks with many nearby nodes challenge traditional MAC design. This chapter discusses design trade-offs with an emphasis on energy efficiency. It classifies existing MAC protocols and compares their advantages and disadvantages in the context of sensor networks. Finally, it presents S-MAC as an example of a MAC protocol designed specifically for a sensor network, illustrating one combination of design trade-offs.

Date

2004

Authors

Wei Ye, John Heidemann

Source

Wireless sensor networks

Pages

73-91

Publisher

Springer US