Clock Synchronization for Periodic Wakeup in Wireless Sensor Networks

One of the major issues in recent researches on wireless sensor networks is to reduce energy consumption of sensor nodes operating with limited battery power, in order to lengthen their lifespan. Among the researches, we are interested in the schemes in which a sensor node periodically turns on and off its radio and requires information on the time when its neighbors will wake up (or turn on). Clock synchronization is essential for wakeup scheduling in such schemes. This paper proposes three methods based on the asynchronous averaging algorithm for clock synchronization in sensor nodes which periodically wake up: (1) a fast clock synchronization method during an initial network construction period, (2) a periodic clock synchronization method for saving energy consumption, and (3) a decision method for switching the operation mode of sensor nodes between the two clock synchronization methods. Through simulation, we analyze maximum clock difference and the number of messages required for clock synchronization.