Performance analysis of ZigBee wireless sensor networks using Riverbed simulation modeler

Wireless sensor networks are distributed network structures in which many sensor nodes connected to each other through a wireless environment. Wireless communication is transmission between a transmitter and a receiver without any cable connection, via light or electromagnetic waves. This paper presents a performance analysis of different topologies supported by the IEEE802.15.4/ZigBee standard were compared based on throughput, data traffic sent and data traffic received parameters using Riverbed modeler simulator. The Simulation has been carried out for different topologies of Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN). In the fixed nodes communication, cluster-tree, mesh and star topologies have been considered using single coordinator. Finally this paper presents, the cluster tree topology is more efficient and best suited compared with mesh and star topologies for IEEE802.15.4/Zigbee standard. Moreover, the cluster tree topology covers more area compared with other topologies. The cluster tree topology is suitable for different applications such as environment monitoring, volcano monitoring, air pollution and habitat monitoring.