A meticulous study of various medium access control protocols for wireless sensor networks

During the last decade, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have evolved as an incredibly useful technology in the area of signal processing and data communication. They have found prolific applications in a wide range of domains which include cell phone monitoring, robotic exploration, disaster management, intrusion detection and medical systems. Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols constitute an important set of regulations which enables the successful and smooth operation of the WSN. A fundamental design goal of all MAC protocols is to prevent energy wastes from various possible sources during data communications. Till now, a wide variety of MAC protocols with different objectives have been accumulated in sensor network literature. A thorough study of these protocols is very important both from the perspectives of understanding the current research trends and determining scopes for further innovative works in this domain. This paper meticulously discusses about the associated issues and difficulties which are faced in designing efficient MAC protocols for WSNs. Several popular MAC protocols are described here with their inherent merits and demerits. In order to provide an up-to-date survey, various MAC protocols which have been developed relatively recently are discussed, together with the traditional benchmark ones. Finally, this paper concludes with outlining a number of innovative ideas and future research directions in this domain.