Evaluation of resource control algorithms for congestion control in wireless sensor networks

Abstract

One of wireless sensor networks’ challenging issues is the congestion control problem. While a lot of attention has been given to rate reduction (Traffic Control) methods to avoid congestion, a new approach emerged. Resource Control mitigates congestion using idle and low load nodes, offers higher throughput and utilizes sources uniformly. In this Thesis we focus on three resource control schemes: TARA, a highly cited algorithm, HTAP, and DALPaS, simpler but also efficient proposals, used for event-based applications.We implemented the three algorithms using the Prowler/Rmase simulation environment and then studied their behavior and performance in different conditions. Finally, we optimize each algorithm using their intrinsinc parameters. Simulation results show that the simplicity of HTAP and DALPaS can outperform TARA in a constantly congested scenario. Also, the performance of each algorithm can be boosted-up when studying thoroughly its intrinsic parameters. This Thesis proposes a variety of small and simple changes for each algorithm that can increase its performance dramatically.