Multiple Packet Transmissions in Duty Cycling WSNs: A DTMC-Based Throughput Analysis

Multiple packet transmissions (MPTs) improve performance by transmitting multiple packets in a single operational cycle. Asynchronous duty cycling medium access control (MAC) protocols such as receiver initiated MAC protocol (RI-MAC) transmit multiple packets in one cycle. In this letter, we develop two associated discrete time Markov chain (DTMC) models to model MPT that can be achieved via multiple node competitions. Furthermore, we present the way of incorporating those developed models with each other for evaluating performance of RI-MAC with MPT. Using the solution of DTMC models, network throughput of MPT is calculated and compared with the one achieved by single packet transmission MAC (e.g., S-MAC) protocol. Validation of analytical results through discrete-event simulations confirms the accuracy of modeling and discloses the operation of MPT in RI-MAC protocol.