Utilization of OFDM for efficient packet forwarding in wireless sensor networks

Beaconless position-based forwarding protocols have recently evolved as a promising solution for packet forwarding in wireless sensor networks. However, as the network density grows, the overhead incurred grows significantly. As such, end-to-end energy and delay performance is adversely impacted. Motivated by the need for a forwarding mechanism that is more tolerant to growth in node density, an alternative position-based protocol is proposed in this paper. The protocol is designed such that it completely eliminates the need for potential relays to undergo a relay election process. Rather, any eligible relay may decide to forward the packet ahead, thus significantly reducing the overhead. The operation of the proposed protocol is empowered by exploiting favorable features of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) at the physical layer. End-to-end performance is evaluated here against existing beaconless protocols. It is demonstrated that the proposed protocol is more efficient since it is able to offer lower end-to-end delay for the same amount of energy consumption. © 2011 IEEE.