Performance analysis of IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor networks: An insight into the topology formation process

Topology formation is an important issue in a wireless sensor network. Performance parameters such as energy consumption, network lifetime, data delivery delay, sensor field coverage depend on the network topology. In this paper, we analyze the process of formation of a wireless sensor network according to the IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee standards. We focus on both single-sink scenarios and multi-sink ones where: (i) we characterize the topology in terms of network depth and nodes distribution at different network levels; (ii) we analyze some network performance as a function of the number of sinks; (iii) we investigate the effects of some topology constraints on network performance; (iv) we study the effects of nodes mobility on the network formation. The whole study is performed by taking into account the specific features and recommendations of the IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee standards; thus, our results can be used to configure IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee procedures and set the related parameters, as a function of the desired application requirements.