A state-free data delivery protocol for multihop wireless sensor networks

Abstract

A novel, state-free, and competition-based data delivery protocol, called state-free implicit forwarding (SIF), is proposed for multihop wireless sensor networks. The SIF protocol assumes moderate node density and distance-to-sink awareness. The state-free feature of SIF makes it robust to high network dynamics. SIF also combines the tasks of routing and MAC, via cross-layer design, to simplify the complexity of the protocol stack in sensors and to save precious network resources. Simulation results are presented to show that SIF performs better than some previously proposed protocols for data delivery in terms of communication overhead, packet delivery ratio, and average packet delay.