A Robust Reliable Low-Power High-Throughput Data Collection Wireless Sensor Network

A robust data collection protocol is proposed in this article for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) applications, which require high throughput, reliability, and low power. In terms of high throughput, time-division multiple access (TDMA) is more suitable than carrier sense multiple access (CSMA). Efficient TDMA protocol requires solid synchronization and more optimized time slot scheduling. Reliable data collection requires end-to-end packet retransmission. These factors inhibit the implementation of comprehensive data collection protocols. This article provides a heuristic TDMA scheduling algorithm for optimal time slot scheduling of multichannel communication. The combination of TDMA and multichannel communication enables to maintain high-throughput and low-power communication. Besides, constructive interference (CI)-based flooding technique is utilized in this article to deliver robust synchronization and efficient downward communication. Thus, we can combine CI-based flooding with packet retransmission for collection reliability. The proposed protocol is implemented on self-made sensor nodes with the Contiki operating system. The experimental results from a deployed network of 29 self-made sensor nodes show that the protocol can sustain persistent operation and provide a throughput of up to 14.74 kB/s with 100% data collection.