An adaptive mobility-aware MAC protocol for sensor networks (MS-MAC)

Most of the MAC protocols proposed for wireless sensor networks assume sensors to be stationary after deployment. This usually provides very bad network performance in scenarios involving mobile sensors. Handling mobility in wireless sensor networks in an energy-efficient way is a new challenge. Techniques developed for other mobile networks, such as mobile phone or mobile ad hoc networks, cannot be applicable, as in these networks, energy is not a very critical resource. The paper presents a new adaptive mobility-aware MAC protocol for sensor networks (MS-MAC). The protocol uses any change in received signal level as an indication of mobility and, when necessary, triggers the mobility handling mechanism. In this way, the new mobility-aware MAC protocol can work in a very energy-efficient way when the network is stationary, whereas it can maintain some level of network performance when there are mobile sensors.