Reliable data delivery in event-driven wireless sensor networks

Protocols for sensor networks have traditionally been designed using the best effort delivery model. However, there are many specific applications that need a reliable data dissemination protocol. We present a protocol for efficient and reliable data delivery to all sensor nodes in an energy-constrained, event-driven sensor network in which nodes are mobile or static. The new protocol, SPROID (scalable protocol for robust information dissemination), identifies data generated by a unique tag, uses content tables for faster dissemination of information and guarantees reliable dissemination to all nodes in the network within a finite time. SPROID can be made to work with any kind of physical layer requirements, but we focus on the case of a single-channel broadcast medium. Simulations results show that SPROID achieves complete data dissemination in shorter time and with more energy efficiency than SPIN (sensor network protocols using information negotiation).