Description

Set out to improve the streaming performance of IEEE 802.15.4 / ZigBee-based WSNs through the deployment of multipath routing. Namely, using analytical models to describe intra- and inter-path interference in networks deploying multipath routing, we examine how such networks should be configured so as to achieve optimal throughput. We first show that under one particular mode of operation – Spatial-TDMA (S-TDMA) – ZigBee-based WSNs can dramatically reduce the level of interference, both in single- and multi-path settings, and thus maximize the overall throughput. We also prove that, under carefully chosen deployment parameters, two-path networks can achieve 73% higher throughput than their single-path counterparts. Finally, we demonstrate that in scenarios involving multipath routing, greater degree of spatial separation between employed paths (ideally 180˚) implies better overall performance. All of our findings are validated analytically as well as through simulation.