A survey of sleep scheduling techniques in wireless sensor networks for maximizing energy efficiency.

Applications for sensor networks are many and have a broad range of possibilities. But for sensor network systems to function well in practical applications, some problems must be solved. Energy saving is a major issue for sensor networks because most sensors lack rechargeable batteries, which have a limited lifespan. Dynamically scheduling sensors' work and sleep cycles is a frequent strategy for extending the lifespan of a sensor network (or duty cycles). Additionally, cluster heads in cluster-based networks may rotate among the sensors to maintain an even distribution of energy use and are often chosen to reduce overall energy usage. In general, these energy-saving topology configuration methods (also called scheduling mechanisms) need to meet certain application needs while saving energy. In this article, we give a summary of energy-efficient scheduling techniques for sensor networks with distinct design specifications from those of conventional wireless networks. We classify these techniques based on their priority traffic sensitivity, clustering, and Time division. In addition to having the same goal of maximizing network longevity, each mechanism may also have unique design goals based on the applications it is intended to serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]