Efficient, Single Hop Time Synchronization Protocol For Randomly Connected WSNs

Abstract

This paper develops a fast, accurate and energy-efficient time synchronization protocol in wireless sensor networks that operate in harsh environments. The suggested protocol concept is based on an electrical physical metaphor. The protocol treats the nodes times as the states of an unconditionally stable discrete dynamical system that uses only single hop communication. The system can terminate at a low number of message exchanges while still in the transient phase. It can yield high quality time estimates with accuracies that are fractions of the clock at which node communication takes place. The synchronizer is developed and its capabilities are demonstrated by simulation and physical experiments on the MICA-Z wireless sensor network