Energy-efficient time synchronization for wireless sensor networks (WSN)

Abstract

As wireless sensor networks continue to grow, so does the need for effective power management. Sensor nodes are small battery powered devices with scarce energy, which is usually impossible to replenish. Network configuration and management algorithms, which consume less energy, are still a challenge in WSN. Our goal is to propose improvements in existing time synchronization algorithms and extend them to meet the needs of WSN. In this work, we review the existing time synchronization algorithms such as Network Time Protocol (NTP), Reference Broadcast Synchronization (RBS) and Timing sync Protocol for Sensor Networks (TPSN). Time synchronization schemes developed for traditional networks such as NTP are illsuited for WSN due to its complexity and excessive energy consumption. We investigate the redesign of NTP for WSN environment by introducing the concept of energyawareness. We also outline the energy consumption of RBS and TPSN and propose low power algorithms, which minimize the number of messages exchanged needed to synchronize the network. To evaluate the appropriateness of our approach, we analyze the evaluated performance of our proposed techniques against existing ones.