Radial coordination for convergecast in wireless sensor networks

Convergecast is frequently used for supporting various tasks in sensor network applications. In this paper we investigate the problem of packet loss in the convergecast process in wireless sensor networks due to congestion and collisions near the sink, and propose a simple yet powerful coordinated convergecast protocol for achieving high convergecast reliability. We study the performance of the new protocol via simulation and show the tradeoffs among reliability, latency, throughput and energy consumption. To compare this protocol with other existing convergecast protocols, a real application scenario is used. Simulation shows that this protocol can achieve dramatic improvement in reliability comparing to existing convergecast protocols.