Practical control of transmission power for Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Transmission power control (TPC) has the potential to reduce power consumption in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). However, despite a multitude of existing protocols, they still face significant challenges in real-world deployments. A practical TPC protocol must be robust against complex and dynamic wireless properties, and efficient for resource-constrained sensors. This paper presents P-TPC, a practical TPC protocol designed on control-theoretic techniques. P-TPC features a highly efficient controller designed on a dynamic model that combines a theoretical link model with online parameter estimation. P-TPC's robustness and energy savings are demonstrated through trace-driven simulations and real-world experiments in a campus building and residential environments.