Distributed Transmission Power Control Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we propose a distributed transmission power control algorithm which cannot only prolong the lifetime of sensor nodes by saving the energy consumption but enhance the performance of packet delivery ratio. Besides, it can also reduce the interference between transmitting nodes. Before designing our algorithm, we firstly investigate the impact of link quality when utilizing different transmission power by analyzing lots of experimental data, and then design our algorithm based on those experimental results. In our algorithm, each node utilizes the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) value and LQI (Link Quality Indicator) value of the radio to determine the appropriate transmission power for its neighbors. Our algorithm can dynamically adjust the transmission power with the environment change. All of our experiments are implemented on the MICAz platform. The experimental results show that our algorithm can save power energy and guarantee a good link quality for each pair of communications.