An Adaptive Modulation Scaling Scheme for Quality of Services Ensurance in Wireless Sensor Netwoks

Energy consumption has been a key concern of data gathering in wireless sensor networks. Previous research works show that modulation scaling is an efficient technique to reduce energy consumption. However, such technique will also impact on both packet delivery latency and packet loss, therefore, may result in adverse effects on the qualities of applications. In this study, the problem of modulation scaling and energy optimization is discussed. A mathematical model is proposed to analyze the impact of modulation scaling on the overall energy consumption, end-to-end mean delivery latency and packet loss. A centralized optimal management mechanism is developed based on the model, which adaptively adjusts the modulation levels to minimize energy consumption while ensuring the QoS for data gathering. Experimental results show that the management mechanism saves significant energy in all the investigated scenarios. Some valuable results are also observed in the experiments.