Design rationale of a cross-layer, Trustful Space-Time Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we introduce a cross-layer, application-oriented communication protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). TSTP - Trustful Space-Time Protocol - integrates most services recurrently needed by WSN applications: Medium Access Control (MAC), spatial localization, geographic routing, time synchronization and security, and is tailored for geographical monitoring applications. By integrating shared data from multiple services into a single network layer, TSTP is able to eliminate replication of information across services, and achieve a very small overhead in terms of control messages. For instance, spatial localization data is shared by the MAC and routing scheme, the location estimator, and the application itself. Application-orientation allows synergistic co-operation of services and allows TSTP to deliver functionality efficiently while eliminating the need for additional, heterogeneous software layers that usually come with an integration cost.