Umudike Journal of Engineering and Technology

This paper focuses on the development of energy efficient CSMA/CA MAC protocols for monitoring in wireless sensor networks. MAC protocols are crucial for coordinating access to the shared communication medium in wireless networks because they manage how nodes in a network access the wireless channel to transmit data. Energy efficiency is critical in wireless sensor networks in that it ensures prolonged network operation and reduced maintenance costs when it is optimally maximized. Modified CSMA/CA MAC protocol was developed in this study from the existing CSMA/CA MAC protocol using Matlab/Simulink and Omnet++ softwares. To properly analyze and develop energy-efficient MAC protocols, MATLAB/Simulink modeling and simulation environments, along with stateflow chart applications, have been used. The logical contents of the MAC protocols have also been extensively developed using state flow diagrams and stateflow charts. The results presented in this study showed that the normalized throughput is 0.2 for CSMA/CA and 0.3 for modified CSMA/CA MAC protocols when the traffic load is 100. It was observed that the energy consumption for CSMA/CA MAC protocol is 5mJ and 3mJ for modified CSMA/CA MAC protocol when the traffic load is at 100. The increase in high throughput reflects the effectiveness and performance of energy-efficient MAC protocols in wireless sensor networks enabling reliable and efficient communication while optimizing resource utilization and energy consumption. Also, low power consumption obtained in this study signifies the effectiveness of the energy saving techniques and strategies employed by the protocols leading to improved network performance, reliability and sustainability in wireless sensor networks.