Energy efficiency in wireless ad hoc and sensor networks: routing, node activity scheduling and cross-layering

In this thesis, we consider wireless ad hoc and sensor networks where energy matters. Indeed, sensor nodes are characterized by a small size, a low cost, an advanced communication technology, but also a limited amount of energy. This energy can be very expensive, difficult or even impossible to renew. Energy efficient strategies are required in such networks to maximize network lifetime. We distinguish four categories of strategies: 1. Energy efficient routing, 2. Node activity scheduling, 3. Topology control by tuning node transmission power and 4. Reduction of the volume of information transferred. Our contribution deals with energy efficient routing and node activity scheduling. For energy efficient routing, the idea consists in reducing the energy spent in the transmission of a packet from its source to its destination, while avoiding nodes with low residual energy. The solution we propose, called EOLSR, is based on the link state OLSR routing protocol. We show by simulation that this solution outperforms the solution that selects routes minimizing the end-to-end energy consumption, as well as the solution that builds routes based on node residual energy. We then show how we can improve the benefit of energy efficient routing using cross layering. Informa- tion provided by the MAC layer improves the reactivity of the routing protocol and the robustness of routes. Moreover, taking into account the specificities of some applications like data gathering allows the routing protocol to reduce its overhead by maintaining routes only to the sink nodes. Concerning node activity scheduling, since the sleep state is the least power consuming state, our aim is to schedule node state between sleeping and active to minimize energy consumption while ensuring network and application functionalities. We propose a solution, called SERENA, based on node coloring. The idea is to assign a color to each node, while using a small number of colors and ensuring that two nodes with the same color can transmit without interfering. This color is mapped into a slot in which the node can transmit its messages. Consequently, each node is awake during its slot and the slots granted to its one-hop neighbors. It sleeps the remaining time. We show how this algorithm can adapt to different application requirements: broadcast, immediate acknowledgement of unicast transmissions... The impact of each additional requirement is evaluated by simulation. An originality of this work lies in taking into account real wireless propagation conditions. Color conflicts are then possible. A cross-layering approach with the MAC layer is used to solve these conflicts. We also show how cross-layering with the application layer can improve the coloring per- formance for data gathering applications. This work has been done for the ANR OCARI project whose aim is to design and implement a wireless sensor network for applications in harsh environments such as power plants and war- ships. The network layer including SERENA and EOLSR has been specified and is now under implementation