An adaptive joining mechanism for improving the connection ratio of ZigBee wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are well suited to many applications, including environment surveillance and target tracking. ZigBee is an IEEE 802.15.4-based standard that is considered suitable for WSNs. The functional operations of a ZigBee network rely on self-organized network connections and the proper deployment of sensor devices. However, the devices comprising a ZigBee network may become isolated from the network after the joining phase due to the configuration constraints of the ZigBee standard. This means that some deployed devices cannot join the network even though they can communicate with other joined nodes. These isolated devices reduce the efficiency of network operation and increase deployment costs. This paper proposes a ZigBee-compatible adaptive joining mechanism with connection shifting schemes to improve the connectivity of ZigBee networks, allowing them to operate at the expected efficiency. Simulation results show that the proposed mechanism significantly improves the join ratio of deployed sensor devices in ZigBee WSNs. Copyright q 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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