Abstract

In this paper we study the transport capacity of a data-gathering wireless sensor network under di#erent communication organizations. In particular, we consider using a flat as well as a hierarchical/clustering architecture to realize many-to-one communications. The capacity of the network under this many-to-one data gathering scenario is reduced compared to random one-to-one communication due to the unavoidable creation of a point of tra#c concentration at the data collector/receiver. We introduce the overall throughput bound of # = per node, where W is the transmission capacity, and show under what conditions it can be achieved and under what conditions it cannot. When those conditions are not met, we constructively show how # = # is achieved with high probability as the number of sensors goes to infinity. We also show how the introduction of clustering can improve the throughput. We discuss the trade-o#s between achieving capacity and energy consumption, how transport capacity might be a#ected by considering in-network processing and the implications this study has on the design of practical protocols for large-scale data-gathering wireless sensor networks.

Citations