Autonomic Network Configuration in IEEE 802.15.4: A Standard-Compliant Solution

In the autonomic networking framework, particular attention deserves the application of this paradigm to Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs). In this context, network algorithms need to be adaptive, robust and scalable, with fully distributed and self-organizing architectures. We study automation and self-management of the IEEE 802.15.4 WPANs formation, with the aim of having robust and energy efficient topologies that can be used for low-rate, low-cost and low-power communications. Specific attention is given to the proposal of a standard-compliant procedure to reconfigure the network coordination. Beside the description of the proposed implementation issues, we provide a performance evaluation of the benefits, in terms of energy consumption, of our reconfiguration procedure.