Energy Analysis of a Contention Tree-based Access Protocol for Machine-to-Machine Networks with Idle-to-Saturation Traffic Transitions

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) area networks must provide connectivity between an M2M gateway and a large number of energy-constrained M2M devices. Attaining high energy efficiency is essential in order to prolong devices lifetime. In this paper, we consider a wireless M2M area network composed of hundreds or even thousands of dormant devices that wake up periodically to transmit data upon request from a gateway. We theoretically analyze the energy efficiency of a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol that uses a tree-splitting algorithm to resolve the collisions among devices: the Distributed Queuing (DQ) access. Computer-based simulations have been carried out to validate the accuracy of the analytical model and to evaluate and compare the energy consumption of devices using also a basic Contention Tree Algorithm (CTA) and Frame Slotted-ALOHA (FSA). Results show that DQ can reduce energy consumption in more than 35% with respect to CTA and in more than 80% with respect to FSA in dense M2M area networks with devices in compliance with the IEEE 802.15.4 physical layer.Grant numbers : This work was supported in part by the Research Projects CO2GREEN (TEC2010-20823), GREEN-T (TSI-020400-2011-16), and by the Catalan Government under grant 2009SGR1046.© 2014 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works