Performance Analysis of Distributed Source Coding and Packet Aggregation in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we propose a theoretical setup for evaluation of energy efficiency of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with distributed source coding (DSC) algorithms and packet aggregation (PA). We consider four topologies for DSC and three alternatives for PA, and the system model includes a realistic network architecture with multi-hop communication, automatic repeat request protocol (ARQ), and packet losses. The analysis is carried out in two steps. Firstly we derive the packet loss probability, and then evaluate the average number of packets transmitted throughout the network. This second performance index can then be mapped onto an energy efficiency indicator. The proposed model is specifically adopted for performance comparison of the different coding strategies and aggregation schemes in terms of energy efficiency. Numerical results show that packet overheads have a relevant influence on performance, while the ARQ protocol introduces negligible effects on the energy consumption. Furthermore, DSC topologies with masterslave approach and fragmentation of packets exhibit better performance.