Performance analysis of Wireless Sensor Network MAC protocols using NS-2

Wireless Sensor Networks are an emerging technology that provides cost effective solutions for several applications. Energy efficiency is one of the performance measures for WSNs as the sensor nodes are mostly battery powered. There are several MAC layer protocols proposed based on various mechanisms to enhance their performance. Analysing the performance of different WSN MAC protocols can help while choosing the MAC protocol for specific application need. In this work, Characteristics of MAC protocols for WSNs have been studied and one of the MAC layer Protocol Sensor MAC's energy efficiency over 802.11 CSMA/CA is observed by simulating an ad-hoc Wireless network in an event-driven open source based Network simulator tool, NS-2.