A decentralized scheduling algorithm for time synchronized channel hopping

• Main Authors: Andrew Tinka, Thomas Watteyne, Kristofer S. J. Pister, Alexandre M. Bayen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: European Alliance for Innovation (EAI) 2011-09-01
• Series: EAI Endorsed Transactions on Mobile Communications and Applications
• Subjects: decentralized scheduling; mobile ad hoc networks; simulation; time synchronized channel hopping
• Online Access: http://eudl.eu/doi/10.4108/icst.trans.mca.2011.e5

Time Synchronized Channel Hopping (TSCH) is an existing Medium Access Control scheme which enables robust communication through channel hopping and high data rates through synchronization. It is based on a time-slotted architecture, and its correct functioning depends on a schedule which is typically computed by a central node. This paper presents, to our knowledge, the first scheduling algorithm for TSCH networks which both is distributed and which copes with mobile nodes. Two variations on scheduling algorithms are presented. Aloha-based scheduling allocates one channel for broadcasting advertisements for new neighbors. Reservation- based scheduling augments Aloha-based scheduling with a dedicated timeslot for targeted advertisements based on gossip information. A mobile ad hoc motorized sensor network with frequent connectivity changes is studied, and the performance of the two proposed algorithms is assessed. This performance analysis uses both simulation results and the results of a field deployment of floating wireless sensors in an estuarial canal environment. Reservation-based scheduling performs significantly better than Aloha-based scheduling, suggesting that the improved network reactivity is worth the increased algorithmic complexity and resource consumption.