Research on power optimization in physical and MAC layer of wireless sensor networks — A survey

Advances in technology enabled researchers in the field of wireless sensor networks to forecast unprecedented growth of ubiquitous applications. Because of the limited energy storage capability of sensor nodes, energy consumption is one of the most challenging aspects of these networks and different strategies and protocol deals with this area. However, deployment of the Wireless Sensor Networks in difficult to access areas makes it difficult to replace the batteries, the main power supply of a sensor node. It means that the power limitation of the sensor nodes appreciably constraints their functionality and potential applications. All the layers of the Wireless sensor networks protocol stack are responsible for the power consumption. In this paper we have discussed about the research issues in physical layer, MAC layer and the different methods to optimize the power consumption in both the layers of Wireless sensor networks. We have also discussed the Cross Layer designs to improve the energy efficiency.