Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20 – 31

www.elsevier.com/locate/csi

An energy efficient and delay sensitive centralized

MAC protocol for wireless sensor networks
Celal Ceken ⁎
Kocaeli University, Technical Education Faculty, Electronics and Computer Education Department, 41380 Kocaeli, Turkey
Received 13 February 2007; accepted 11 June 2007
Available online 30 June 2007

Abstract

Energy consumption is one of the most crucial design issues in wireless sensor networks since prolonging the network lifetime depends on the
efficient management of sensing node energy resource. In this research study, a new TDMA based MAC protocol, which is not only energy aware
but also delay sensitive, is introduced for wireless sensor networks. In the proposed MAC, to achieve energy conservation, sensing nodes
employing the proposed MAC sleeps periodically to reduce duty cycle and minimize idle listening. In addition, to provide lower message delay,
any time critical sensing node requests extra time slots form the central node when its queue size exceeds the upper threshold value. Unlike
common wireless sensor network models with a multi-hop topology, the proposed WSN architecture has a centralized structure especially for
energy efficiency and fulfillment of the delay requirement of time critical networking applications. The proposed MAC has been modeled and
simulated using OPNET Modeler Software for performance evaluation. Simulation results of the WSN model employing the new MAC are also
presented including comparisons with those of a WSN counterpart employing conventional IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC protocol. By varying the
interarrival time between 1 and 8 s for 100 wireless sensing nodes, in the best case, as a consequence of the new scheduling algorithms developed
9448 times better end to end message delay result and 1.9 times lower energy consumption ratio have been obtained for WSN employing the
proposed MAC when compared with the WSN model employing IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Wireless sensor network; Energy efficiency; MAC; TDMA; Latency

1. Introduction wireless transmission abilities, namely wireless sensor networks

Recent progresses in micro electronics and wireless
communication technologies have led to need for widespread
use of small, mobile, low-power, low-cost, multifunctional
sensor nodes with sensing, local processing and wireless
transmission capabilities. In a traditional sensor network
system, to carry out a specific task, sensing nodes transmit the
data obtained from the working environment to a central
processing node through wired medium. These systems have
relatively less number of nodes and the sensors deployed have
no local processing power. However, the new tendency is
moving towards building distributed networks consisting of
sensing nodes small in size as well as with local processing and
⁎ Tel.: +90 262 303 22 40; fax: +0 262 3058010.
E-mail address: cceken@kou.edu.tr.
0920-5489/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.csi.2007.06.001
(WSNs).
Because of their ease of deployment, low cost, flexibility,
and ability to self-organize, WSNs can be deployed in almost
any environment, especially those where conventional wired
sensor systems are impossible, unavailable or inaccessible.
Their potential applications included environmental detection
and monitoring, smart spaces, disaster prevention and relief,
medical systems, home automation, scientific exploration,
interactive surrounding, robotic exploration, etc. [1,2].
WSN applications have noticeably different characteristics
and requirements from traditional wireless applications. An SN
(Sensing Node) in a WSN is expected to be battery equipped,
and to change or recharge the power supply is usually very
difficult. Therefore energy conservation, which is essential for
prolonging the lifetime of the SN and correspondingly of the
network, is a more crucial issue in WSNs than such other
performance metrics utilized for traditional network systems as
 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31
throughput and latency. Accordingly, most of the ongoing
researches about WSNs aim at providing lower energy con-
sumption ratio. Like in any other wireless systems, maximum
energy is consumed by radio functions such as sending, re-
ceiving, and idle listening periods in WSNs. In order to reduce
the energy consumption ratio, an efficient MAC (Medium
Access Control) protocol that provides effective allocation of
medium resources shared by many different SNs must be
utilized.
The primary goal of this research study is to implement a
new energy-aware TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)
based MAC protocol for WSNs. With the scheduling algorithms
developed for the proposed MAC, it is intended to achieve
relatively better end to end message delay results for especially
time critical application traffics as well as to fulfill the lower
energy consumption requirement.
In the proposed MAC, in order to reduce latency of any delay
sensitive application, an extra slot is assigned to the relevant
SN. Extra slot request takes place when any time critical SN
queue size exceeds the upper threshold value. The scheduling
algorithms developed to perform these functions are the major
contribution of this study. In addition, for energy efficiency, the
non-time critical SNs put themselves into sleep mode
periodically to reduce the duration of idle listening which is
the major energy consumer. And this operation is the other
contribution of the paper.
Computer modeling and simulation of the new approach and
its application for a WSN scenario are realized using OPNET
Modeler software. Simulation results are also presented
including comparisons with those of a WSN counterpart
employing classical IEEE 802.11 DCF (Distributed Coordina-
tion Function) MAC protocol.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In the
next section, a brief introduction on WSNs and their network
components is given. Section 3 presents general information
about the WSN MAC protocols with comparisons. It also
provides a detailed overview of contention based CSMA/CA
MAC protocol that will be used for performance comparisons.
Overall properties and design stages of the proposed MAC
protocol together with related algorithms are described
Fig. 1. General architecture of a wireless sensing node.
21
comprehensively in Section 4. Section 5 includes an example
WSN scenario, consisting of several SNs and a central access
point all incorporate with the proposed MAC, which has been
modeled and simulated under different networking conditions.
The simulation results obtained are compared with those of an
other WSN scenario with nodes employing CSMA/CA MAC
protocol that are also obtained under the same networking
conditions as former network scenario, followed by perfor-
mance evaluation of both networks. The last section gives the
summary about the proposed MAC protocol with final remarks.
2. Wireless sensor network architecture
In Fig. 1, the general architecture of a wireless sensor node is
presented. As seen from the figure, commonly, a wireless sensor
node is composed of four major components which are namely,
the sensing unit, the processing unit, the power unit and finally
the wireless transceiver unit [2].
The sensing unit converts such measured physical quantities
as humidity, pressure, temperature, fuel tank level, flow rate,
position, velocity, acceleration, chemical concentration, etc.
into a voltage signal and thereafter digitizes it to produce digital
output for processing. The processing unit with a microcon-
troller controls all of the functions of the sensor node and
manages the communication protocols to carry out specific
tasks. Communication between the SN and the network it is
attached to is provided by the transceiver unit. And finally the
power unit, which is the most crucial component of a sensor
node, supplies mandatory power to all of these units.
In addition to these major components, a sensor node may
also include application depended components such as power
generator, location finding system and mobilizer. Power
generators, like solar cells, may be utilized to support the
power unit for prolonging the sensor node lifetime. The
applications requiring the location information of the sensed
data must be equipped with a location finding unit. Some of the
WSN systems with mobility supported SNs must be provided
with a mobilizer system to tackle mobile sensing processes.
The protocol stack of SNs and the center node, gathering
sensed information from the sensor nodes, consists of
22 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31
application, transport, network, data link and physical layers
together with power management, mobility management and
task management planes [2].
Since the WSN applications and their requirements vary
significantly, the architecture of the WSN and service require-
ments may also be different. While the bit error rate (BER) is a
vital service requirement for some applications entailing a
powerful error control technique, the others such as healthcare
applications may need to ensure low time delay for the packets
transferred.
In this research study presented, a new energy aware MAC
protocol which is employed in data link control layer is
proposed. The data link layer provides SNs with communica-
tion functions to share the wireless medium efficiently as well
with essential error control tasks. In the following sections,
WSN MAC protocols and the proposed MAC technique will be
explained in detail.
3. WSN MAC protocols
As mentioned before, one of the most challenging problems
in WSN design is energy efficiency and almost all of the
enduring researches about WSN subject consider this require-
ment. The major energy consumers in WSNs are radio
communication functions such as transmitting, receiving, and
idle listening. To reduce energy consumption of a wireless SN
an effective MAC protocol, an algorithm that defines in which
manner the wireless medium will be shared by the nodes
constructing the network, must be utilized.
There are several studies found about WSN MAC protocols
in literature. The MAC techniques proposed for WSNs can be
divided into two categories, namely contention based and
TDMA based protocols [3,4].
IEEE 802.11 DCF (Distributed Coordination Function) is a
contention based MAC protocol that is mainly built on the
MACAW [5], and widely employed in early WSN applications.
In this study, the performance results of the new MAC protocol
proposed will be compared with those of IEEE 802.11 DCF
[3,4]. The frame format and timing schema of an IEEE 802.11
DCF MAC is illustrated in Fig. 2.
In this technique based on CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense
Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance), before data
transmission starts, the source node firstly listens the medium.
Fig. 2. Frame structure and timing schema of the IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC protocol.
If the channel is sensed “idle” for D interval then it sends a short
RTS (Request to Send) packet to the destination node informing
upcoming packet transmission. When the destination node
receives the RTS, if it is proper, after a SIFS (Short Inter Frame
Space) interval it sends a CTS (Clear to Send) reply packet
allowing source node to begin transmission. After that, the
packet can be delivered to destination node. This process is
repeated for all new packet transmission requests. RTS and CTS
packets are utilized to avoid hidden terminal problem that result
in collisions. Accordingly, the possibility of packet collision can
be reduced, but can not be eliminated entirely. The performance
results of the IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC are given in Section 5.2
including comparisons with those of the proposed MAC.
A contention-based SMAC protocol is described in [3]. For
this protocol that is based on CSMA/CA, energy conservation
and self-configuration are primary goals, while per-node
fairness and latency are less important. To provide energy
conservation, the SMAC protocol tries to reduce undesirable
energy depletion due to collision, overhearing, packet overhead
and idle listening as well as it turns the radio on and off based on
the fixed duty cycles. The main drawback of SMAC is that the
use of fixed duty cycles can waste considerable amounts of
energy since the communication sub-system is activated even
though no communication will take place.
The TMAC [6], another contention based protocol, uses an
adaptive duty cycle to obtain higher energy efficiency when
compared to the fixed duty cycle used in SMAC. The DSMAC
[7] adds dynamic duty cycle feature to SMAC to achieve better
latency for delay sensitive applications. In the DMAC [7]
protocol, that can be considered as an improved version of
Slotted Aloha, the primary goal is not only the energy
conservation but also achieving lower latency. The WiseMAC
[8] protocol which combines TDMA and CSMA techniques
determines the length of the preamble dynamically to reduce the
power consumption and thus it results better performance under
especially variable traffic conditions. Comprehensive informa-
tion on WSN MAC protocols will not be given here due to
space limitation, however, it can be found in [4,9].
4. The proposed MAC protocol
In most of the previous researches related to WSNs, the major
goal is to minimize the energy consumption of SNs. However, the
 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31
Fig. 3. Frame structure and timing schema of the proposed MAC protocol.
focus of this work is not only improving the energy conservation
performance but also providing a better average packet transfer
delay for especially time critical application traffics.
The energy consumption of each node in a WSN is
dominated by the cost of communication, rather than compu-
tation. The basic wireless functions for an SN are; receive, idle,
and transmit processes. The energy consumption for the
transmit mode is calculated based on the distance of the
neighbors, the transmission capacity, and the size of the
message to transmit. Measurements show that idle mode, in
which the SN only listens the medium for possible traffic
reception, consumes 50–100% of the energy required for
receiving. In [10], the ratios of idle, receive, and send processes
are measured like 1, 1.05, and 1.4, respectively. Major energy
wasting sources determined for wireless functions of an SN are
[9,3]:
• Idle listening; means listening of medium for possible data
flow. Energy consumed in idle listening dominates all other
costs.
• Collision; takes place when an SN receives more than one
packet at the same time. Collision results in discarding of the
packets and entails retransmission which boosts the energy
consumption.
• Overhearing; means an SN receives packets destined to
other SNs.
• Control packet overhead; size of the control packets for
control signaling should be as small as possible.
• Overemitting; takes place even though the receiving node is
not ready to accept, a message is sent to destination.
A centralized TDMA based MAC protocol, which has also
been studied in this work, is a good solution for most of these
Fig. 4. Duty cycle of the non-time critical SNs.
23
problems. This work introduces a demand assignment sched-
uling scheme to be utilized in the proposed WSN MAC
protocol. As a property of TDMA multiplexing technique, radio
spectrum is divided into time slots which are assigned to
different SNs and an SN can send data sensed only in its own
dedicated slot(s). Due to the FDD duplexing technique utilized,
an SN with the proposed MAC has two distinct carrier
frequencies for uplink and downlink channels. The frame
structure and timing schema of the proposed MAC protocol is
shown in Fig. 3.
When an SN has data to send, it initially asks for a
transmission channel, i.e. time slot, from the CN (Central Node)
which coordinates the available bandwidth usage and collects
the data sensed by SNs in its coverage area. The CN then
assigns a time slot for this connection request using a dynamic
ST (Scheduling Table) that is controlled with an algorithm
explained in the following sub-sections.
Furthermore, when a time critical SN needs more band-
width that means the queue size exceeds the upper threshold
value, it asks again for extra time slot from the CN. Then, CN
assigns extra slot for this SN if there is available empty slot in
ST. Thus, relatively better end to end delay results can be
provided for delay sensitive data traffics. This scheduling
schema utilized in the proposed MAC is the major contribution
of the study. Especially in the light traffic conditions,
traditional wireless network nodes are in idle mode for most
of the time. However, they must listen to the channel to receive
possible data traffics. Since the energy consumption is crucial
for WSNs and the idle mode consumes considerable amount
of energy, turning off the radio, if no traffic exists, is quite
reasonable.
In the proposed model, it is assumed that all the SNs, except
delay sensitive ones, have three operational modes; transmit,
24 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31

Fig. 5. (a) Connection request packet, (b) Connection reply packet, (c) Data packet, (d) Extra slot request packet, (e) Extra slot reply packet, (f) Release slot packet.

idle, and sleep. Since the energy consumption ratios of receive
and idle mode operations are approximately the same
according to the results measured in Ref. [10], the receiving
function has been omitted and its energy consumption ratio has
been added to that of idle mode operation. The amount of
energy consumed depends upon the operational modes the SN
is in. Sleep mode operation is utilized to accomplish less
energy consumption and in this context, all the non-time
critical SNs sleep periodically (Fig. 4).
Besides, in the proposed MAC, in order to reduce latency,
time critical SNs are allowed to utilize the time slots of other
SNs when they are in sleep mode. To achieve this function, the
duty cycle of non-time critical SNs are chosen periodic (i.e. not
time variant).

Fig. 6. The SN MAC layer process model.

 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31 25

Fig. 7. The SN MAC layer process model algorithm.

The overall properties of the proposed MAC can be sum-
marized as follows:
• Due to the centralized network topology and TDMA
scheduling technique utilized, all the aforementioned energy
west sources such as collision, overhearing, control packet
overhead, and overemitting can be decreased.
• Non-time critical SNs put themselves into sleep mode
periodically to reduce the energy consumption, which
prolongs the lifetime of the network. Besides, delay
sensitive SNs are allowed to utilize the time slots of any
SN that is in sleep mode, which results is lower end to end
message delay.
• In a centralized structure, the SNs are directly connected to
the CN. Therefore, it is not necessary to execute a routing
algorithm, which results in less energy consumption and
provides lower end to end message delay.
• Time synchronization process is relatively simpler.
• Self-configuration can also be achieved easily by the
control packets namely connection request, extra slot
request, and release slot request.
• Finally, with the scheduling algorithm employed in the
proposed MAC, effective utilization of resources such as
bandwidth and energy can be satisfied. The extra time slots
dedicated for delay sensitive traffic results in relatively better
latency performance.
26 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31
On the other hand, scalability is the major drawback of he
proposed model with centralized structure when compared with
the model with multi-hop topology.
The MAC protocol proposed in this research study is divided
into two complementary parts operating at the SN and CN. In
the following sub-sections, these parts and their simulation
models realized using OPNET Modeler software are explained
in detail.
4.1. Wireless sensor node MAC model
The SN wireless functions of the proposed MAC protocol
include; requesting a connection establishment, asking for extra
time slot(s) for delay sensitive traffics, getting its dedicated time
slot(s), informing deallocation of extra time slot(s), and sending
data in its own time slot(s). Besides, for non-time critical SNs
there is an extra function, namely sleep mode process in which
SNs defer their wireless operations to reduce energy consump-
tion. In the WSN scenario studied, any new added SN creates a
control packet called cc_WSN_conreq_pk (Fig. 5a) in order to
inform the CN about its bandwidth requirement and transmits it
in the first available empty slot. Slot number 1 in the ST, namely
control slot, is reserved for such control packets as connection
establishment, extra time slot request and release slot request.
When an SN requires sending a control packet, it uses the first
empty data or control slot.
When the CN gets the connection request packet it allocates
a time slot, if the resources are sufficient, for the request and
sends the slot number to the related SN using the connection
reply packet (Fig. 5b). After an SN gets its time slot(s), which
means the connection has been established, the information
sensed is transferred by the data packet illustrated in Fig. 5c in
Fig. 8. The CN MAC layer process model.
its own time slot(s). A data packet comprises 48 bytes,
consisting of a 1-byte header (SourceID), and a 47-byte
information field for sensed data. When an SN needs more
bandwidth for delay sensitive traffics, it requests extra time slot
again from the CN using extra slot request packet (Fig. 5d). If
there are adequate number of empty slots, CN allocates one
more time slot and sends the slot number to the related SN using
the extra slot reply packet (Fig. 5e). Finally, the CN is informed
to release extra slots allocated to time critical SNs, using release
slot packet (Fig. 5f) when the queue size is less than the lower
threshold value. A 2-byte error correction field (CRC) which is
used for detection and correction of the possible bit errors is also
added to all packets traveling over the network. The process
model of the proposed WSN MAC employed in SN and all its
functions are illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively.
The process starts with the big arrow, pointing the init state.
This state performs a delay until the other processes in the
simulation are initialized and loads the control variables. Then
the process enters the idle state and waits here until a specific
interrupt arrives. The conReq state machine creates connection
request packet, informing connection establishment, and sends
it to the CN. The reqResp state machine obtains the number of
time slot assigned by the CN. The fromSrc state machine gets
the data sensed from the upper layer, segments it into the
packets and inserts them into the queue. The data packets
received from the upper layer are sent to destination in the time
slot(s) dedicated to the SN in toTX state machine. The sleep
state machine, for non-time critical traffics, turns off the radio
functions for a specific time interval to conserve energy. The
extSlotReq state machine creates extra slot request packet to
inform extra bandwidth requirement for delay sensitive traffics.
Extra slot release packet is created and sent to the CN in
 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31 27

releaseSlot state machine. The fromRx state machine handles
any arrived packets destined to the SN.
4.2. Central node MAC model
The CN gathers all the data sensed from the environment by
the SNs in the cluster and coordinates how the SNs will access
the wireless medium fairly. The CN functions of the proposed
MAC protocol include three main processes. These are namely;
assigning time slot for any SN, delivering any arrived data
packets to upper layer and allocating/releasing extra time slots
for delay sensitive data traffics using the ST scheduling
algorithm. Fig. 8 shows the proposed CN MAC model realized
using OPNET Modeler.
The scheduling algorithm operates in the CN allocates
available bandwidth, i.e. time slots, for the requesting SNs. The
information about which slots will be used by SNs is hold in a
table called ST (Scheduling Table). There are three fields for
each slot in ST, which are Terminal Number, Dedicated, and
Priority. The Priority field can get two values; “1” for high
priority, and “0” for low priority, and is used especially to
handle extra slot requests. When any SN asks for an extra slot
from the CN, the scheduling algorithm assigns an empty slot for
it and set the Priority field to “0”. The slot whose Priority field is

Fig. 9. The CN MAC layer process model algorithm.

28 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31
“0” may be reassigned for a new connection request, in case
empty slot does not exist.
The process starts with the init state, then enters the idle
state and waits here until a specific interrupt arrives. The
fromRx state machine delivers any arriving packet to the next
state machine considering its format. The bwRequest state
machine handles connection requests and allocation/deal-
location extra time slot requests, and also executes a fair
scheduling algorithm that manages the ST. The data state
machine delivers the sensed information to upper layer to
execute the specific task. The CN MAC layer process model
algorithm is outlined in Fig. 9.
5. Computer simulation of WSN
5.1. Assumptions
In the example scenario, shown in Fig. 10, in order to
generate sensed data traffics there are numerous SNs which are
Fig. 10. Example WATM scenario.
deployed randomly and equipped with the proposed MAC
protocol explained in the previous section. The sensed data
traffic introduced to the network by any SN is destined to the
CN, which is the sink node where the results of sensor
measurements are collected, for executing a specific task. It is
assumed that some of these nodes are generating delay sensitive
application traffics while the others are generating non-time
critical data traffics. Diameter of the cluster which constructs the
network topology has been chosen 100 m.
In the simulation environment a free space channel propaga-
tion model that supports to predict received signal strength when
the transmitter and receiver have a clear, unobstructed line-of-
sight path between them is utilized. The packet loss ratio metric is
not considered here since the buffers are assumed to have enough
capacity so that no data packet is lost due to buffer overflow.
Moreover, it is also assumed that the CRC bits added to the
packets avoids the possible bit errors.
Another WSN model analogous to the one above except that
IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC protocol is utilized instead of the
 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31 29

Table 1 first is the sleep mode operation, for non-time critical SNs, in
Simulation parameters which the power consumption ratio is considerably reduced
Parameters Value while it results in increasing end to end message delay. The
Message size 20 packets × 50 a Bytes second is the extra slot usage for delay sensitive SNs, which
Interarrival time 1 a–10 a s provides lower latency performance but conversely results in
Data rate 1 Mb/s higher power consumption ratio due to the increasing channel
Frequency band Uplink = 3 GHz and Downlink = 4 GHz
utilization.
Transmitter power CS = 10 mW and SNs = 10 mW
Modulation schema BPSK In Fig. 11, average EED results of the WSN models are
Number of SNs 100 presented as a function of the interarrival time. For heavy
Queue threshold values 12,000–9000 bits traffics (i.e. interarrival time is up to 3 s), in the best case, the
Area size 100 m × 100 m delay sensitive application traffic (i.e. between SN1 and CN)
Channel model Free space propagation model (LoS)
experiences approximately 9448 times lower (by virtue of extra
a
Generated using exponential distribution function exp (mean). slot utilization and demand assignment scheduling algorithm),
and the non-time critic application traffic (i.e. between SN2 and
proposed MAC has also been simulated using OPNET Modeler. CN) experiences approximately 271 times lower average
Working conditions of both network models have been chosen message delays in the proposed MAC based WSN model
similar for consistent performance comparisons. when compared with those of the IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC
based WSN model.
5.2. Simulation results and discussion However, for the light traffics (i.e. interarrival time is
between 3 s and 8 s) EED results of IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC are
In the proposed MAC, an uplink frame consists of 220 time generally better than those of the both proposed MAC models.
slots each has 1 ms length and contains 2 data packets. The Moreover, it can also be observed from the figure that, for the
simulation parameters are given in Table 1. proposed MAC, the longer duty cycle (in the scenario, SN1 has
Simulation results of the both WSN models described above a longer duty cycle than SN2 has, as a consequence of sleep
are presented under varying network load conditions followed mode operation), results in a decrease in message delay as
by performance analysis and comparisons. The simulation was expected.
run for 3600 s. In Fig. 12, measured average power consumption results of
In the example scenario, all non-time critical SNs put the WSN models are presented as a function of the interarrival
themselves into sleep mode after 50 s of being idle and stay this time. As can be seen from the figure, power consumption results
mode for next 50 s, and this process repeats throughout the of the proposed MAC are better than those of the IEEE 802.11
simulation run time. Varying the message size of all SNs DCF MAC for all traffic conditions. In the best case, non-time
application traffics, power consumption and average EED (end- critical SN2 equipped with the proposed MAC consumes 1.8
to-end delay) results of the delay sensitive traffic transfer times lower energy than the one employing the IEEE 802.11
between SN1 and CN, of non-time critical traffic transfer DCF MAC.
between SN2 and CN have been collected during the simulation For the proposed MAC model, non-time critical SN2
run time for both WSN models. provides 1.1−1.8 times lower power consumption than SN1
In the proposed MAC, there are two factors that impact the does. This is not a surprising outcome since SN1 uses extra
power consumption and latency performance of the SNs. The slot(s) to accomplish better latency performance. Accordingly,

Fig. 11. Average EED results of the MAC protocols.

30 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31

Fig. 12. Average power consumption results of the MAC protocols.

it results in increasing channel utilization that boosts energy
dissipation. Besides, SN2 puts itself into the sleep mode
periodically and this provides aforementioned significant
amount of reduction in power consumption. IEEE DCF
MAC based SNs consume more energy than SNs employing
the proposed MAC for all load conditions as can be seen from
the figure.
For the network model employing the proposed MAC, when
an SN enters in sleep mode to save energy, its wireless functions
such as transmit, receive, and idle are halted. During this period,
all the data sensed are stored in the buffer. In Fig. 13, queuing
statuses of SN1 and SN2 are shown. As can be seen from the
figure, size of the data in the SN2 queue is more than that of
SN1 queue for the duration of the simulation run time as a
consequence of sleep mode operation. The SN2 turns off radio
functions periodically, provides lower energy dissipation, and
conversely results in increasing message transfer delay as
explained before.
In Fig. 14 that stands to reveal the effect of extra slot usage,
queuing statuses of SN1 both with extra slot and without extra
slot are shown. Any time critical SN asks for extra slot from the
CN when its queue size exceeds the upper threshold value. After
a new time slot assigned for the SN, accordingly, its queue
size decreases below to the upper threshold value until the

Fig. 13. Queuing statuses of SN1 and SN2 with the proposed MAC.
 C. Ceken / Computer Standards & Interfaces 30 (2008) 20–31
Fig. 14. Queuing statuses of SN1 and SN2 with the proposed MAC.
simulation end as can be seen from the figure. It is obvious that
the queue status of SNs impacts the end to end message delay,
namely the lower queue size result in the lower end to end
message delay as can be seen in Fig. 11.
6. Conclusions
Many ongoing researches on WSN subject focus only on the
energy efficiency. In this study a new energy aware and delay
sensitive MAC protocol for WSNs has been proposed and
simulated using OPNET Modeler software. In the proposed
MAC, in order to reduce latency of any delay sensitive appli-
cation, an extra slot is assigned to the relevant SN when its queue
size exceeds the upper threshold value. The scheduling
algorithms developed to perform these functions are the major
contribution of this study. In addition, for energy efficiency, the
non-time critical SNs put themselves into sleep mode periodically
to reduce the duration of idle listening which is the major energy
consumer. This operation is the other contribution of the paper.
The simulation results have been compared with those of
the IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC protocol. According to the
performance results obtained, with the scheduling algorithms
developed for the proposed MAC protocol, not only have
lower energy consumption ratios been fulfilled but also lower
end to end message delay results have been achieved for
especially delay sensitive data traffics. For the proposed MAC,
in the best case, 1.9 times lower energy consumption results
and 9448 times lower latency performance have been obtained
when compared with those of IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC
protocol.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ismail Erturk
for his invaluable contributions to this study.
31
References
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Celal Ceken received the M.Sc. and PhD degrees
from Kocaeli University, Turkey in 2001 and 2004,
respectively. His active research interests include
wireless communications, broadband networks,
WATM, QoS, high-speed communication protocols,
and wireless sensor networks.