Power Control Techniques for Energy Efficient Wireless Sensor Networks

Low-cost and low-power sensor nodes forming Wireless Sensor Networks have become suitable for a wide range of applications during recent years. These networks, due to their special characteristics, demand the implementation of energyaware techniques and simple protocols in all layers. In this paper we describe, implement and evaluate power control techniques used to reduce energy consumptions. Using a simulation tool build especially for such networks, we evaluated the performance of these techniques mainly in terms of energy efficiency. Simulation results showed that depending on channel conditions, gains up to 70% can be achieved with the power control techniques. Moreover enhanced network throughput is observed. The effectiveness of the schemes was proven to be scalable regardless of the size of the network or the data rate used.