Do Sensornet Protocol Variants Yield Real Benefits?

Simple, stateless networking protocols provide a low-cost and predictable foundation upon which to build decentralised applications. Sensornets are complex, containing emergent behaviour; identifying protocols offering appropriate behaviour may be difficult. In this paper we evaluate the relative performance of gossiping protocol variants in non-ideal sensornets. We examine the extent to which a "standard" gossiping protocol might be outperformed by variants of this standard, each specialised and optimised to mitigate anticipated problems. We categorise and measure the undesired behaviours that remain, as a foundation for future protocols which will address these specific issues.