Evaluating the Lifetimes of Energy-Harvesting Wireless Sensor Networks with ALOHA

Abstract

In recent years, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have attracted rising interest due to their significant role in Internet of Things (IoT) applications. One of the most important layers of the IoT is known as edge computing, and WSNs typically act as microcontroller-driven edge objects. It is a well-known phenomenon that objects composing a WSN are resource-constrained devices in terms of energy. This paper aims to revisit the traditional ALOHA protocol as a medium-access control with the purpose of creating a solar-powered energy source. A simple network of 6 objects is created to test the performance of the ALOHA protocol in terms of its lifetime. The performance results reveal that the network lifetime can be increased by controlling the parameters, such as transmission power level and packet length.

Keywords

• wireless sensor networks
• medium access control
• ALOHA
• energy harvesting