Multi-channel time division multiple access timeslot scheduling with link recovery for multi-hop wireless sensor networks

In this article, we propose a time division multiple access scheduling algorithm for end-to-end on-time packet delivery in multi-hop wireless sensor networks. Our proposed algorithm establishes a new communication path to substitute the old path including the link failed and schedules communication links on the new path by allocating timeslots satisfying end-to-end delay bound. Max–min optimization is employed to maximize the number of dedicated timeslots to establish the substitute path in the event of the next link failure. We evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm using QualNet network simulator and compare it with the performance of the algorithm that minimizes the end-to-end delay. Our numerical results show that the path survival ratio of the proposed algorithm is approximately two times higher when large number of communication links fails. In addition, we apply the global recovery and local recovery schemes to observe the increase in the overhead message exchanges. Compared to the global recovery scheme, local recovery scheme requires six times less control messages to establish the substitute path when a small number of link failures occur, whereas more than 90% communication paths survive.