Multi-channel Utilization Algorithms for IEEE 802.15.4 based Wireless Network: A Survey

In the pass years, IEEE 802.15.4 based Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have received great attention and have been employed in many areas such as inventory checking, local monitoring and alarming etc. One of the key issues affecting WSN's system performance is interference caused by devices operating with the same or different standards on the overlapping frequency within the 2.4 GHz ISM band. This paper addresses the coexistence problem, which is the key motivation for the necessity of flexible channel usage. A review of existing approaches being proposed to date supporting multi-channel utilization in IEEE 802.15.4 based WSNs is categorized and discussed. The paper also presents major functionalities needed in implementing multi-channel utilization