Analysis of the IEEE 802.15.4 MAC Parameters to Achieve Lower Packet Loss Rates

Abstract The IEEE-802.15.4 standard utilizes the CSMA-CA mechanism to control nodes access to the channel communication. It is becoming the popular choice for various applications of surveillance and control used in wireless sensor network (WSN). The benefit of this standard is evaluated regarding of the packet loss probability that depends on the configuration of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC parameters and the traffic load. Our exigency is to evaluate the effects of various configurable MAC parameters on the performance of beaconless IEEE 802.15.4 networks, under different traffic loads. Static values of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC parameters (macMinBE, macMaxCSMABackoffs, CW, and macMaxFrame Retries) will be evaluated. To evaluate the performance of the protocol, we use ns-2 network simulator.