Data-driven Bottom-up Cluster-tree Formation based on the IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee Protocols
Miguel Lino, Carlos Barros Montez, Erico Meneses Leão, Aujor Tadeu C. Andrade · 2021
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have become a fundamental technology for implementing Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and supporting Industry 4.0 applications. This technology presents as main characteristics: high scalability, synchronized communication, and low power consumption. The network topological formation is a key factor in the design of WSNs, as the structure resulting from this process dictates the operation mode in which the network should handle such issues. For this, standards such as IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee have composed an adequate protocol stack, providing support for complex network topologies, such as cluster-tree. The objective of this work is to implement cluster-tree topology formation mechanisms driven by the data generated of sensor nodes, called the Bottom-Up Formation (BUF). The underlying idea is to select cluster-heads and build clusters following a bottom-up approach, aiming to define homogeneous tree branches in order to prioritize different data traffic. The results demonstrate that, compared to a state-of-the-art approach, the proposed mechanisms can reduce communication delays by up to 63%, achieve communication success rates of up to 99%, and extend the nodes’ lifetime.