Adaptive clock synchronization in sensor networks

Recent advances in technology have made low cost, low power wireless sensors a reality. Clock synchronization is an important service in any distributed system, including sensor network systems. Applications of clock synchronization in sensor networks include data integration in sensors, sensor reading fusion, TDMA medium access scheduling, and power mode energy saving. However, for a number of reasons, standard clock synchronization protocols are unsuitable for direct application in sensor networks. In this paper, we introduce the concept of adaptive clock synchronization based on the need of the application and the resource constraint in the sensor networks. We describe a probabilistic method for clock synchronization that uses the higher precision of receiver-to-receiver synchronization, as described in Reference Broadcast Synchronization (RBS) protocol. This deterministic protocol is extended to provide a probabilistic bound on the accuracy of the clock synchronization, allowing f...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: IPSN
• Authors: Santashil PalChaudhuri, Amit Kumar Saha, David B. Johnson
• Keywords: Clock Synchronization, IPSN 2004, Sensor, Sensor Networks