A new MAC protocol based on token ring in wireless sensor networks

Recently, TDMA-based MAC protocols have been discussed in wireless sensor networks for their energy-efficient performance. But the weaknesses of clock synchronism and scheme adjustment obstruct the development of these protocols. In this paper, we introduce the token ring technology into wireless sensor networks and propose a new protocol - Token Ring MAC (TRMAC), which provides stronger resource-scheduling and relaxes the synchronous requirement. We expound the operation of TRMAC and compare it with BMA protocol. Simulation results demonstrate that TRMAC has superior energy efficiency.