Novel Asynchronous MAC Protocol Leveraging Wake-Up Receiver and Energy Harvesting in Wireless Sensor Networks

Introduction: This research work presents an effective solution to the challenge of designing practical energy harvesting-aware medium access control (MAC) protocols with wake-up receiver (WuR) from the perspective of sustainable wireless communication imperatives. The proposed solution utilises wireless technologies and a wake-up technique to establish models for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that are not only limited to uniform network efficiency and sustainability but also have inherent mechanisms for immediate adaptation to meet increased energy requirements. These protocols aim to optimise network lifetime without sacrificing key performance metrics, thereby addressing critical challenges in sustainable and remote deployments. Methods: This study applied a rigorous theoretical approach based on Markov decision process (MDP) modelling, complemented by extensive simulation experiments conducted in OMNeT++. The design principles, performance characteristics, and practical challenges of energyharvesting- aware WuR-enabled MAC protocols were systematically analysed and benchmarked against conventional MAC schemes. Results: The developed protocol reduces power consumption by up to 67% and latency by up to 58%. The proposed scheme yields a threefold increase in network lifetime, with packet delivery ratios above 98% in the best-case scenario. Furthermore, the protocol offers high throughput, high reliability, and enhanced performance. Discussion: Based on the experimental findings, a WSN can operate under stringent ambient conditions if it has energy-conserving features such as sleep scheduling, energy harvesting, and wake-up radio. WuR is currently being studied under the IEEE 802.11ba umbrella and will be of significant importance for Internet of Things (IoT) applications in the near future. Moreover, the MDP-based analysis provides critical insights into optimal policies for adaptive energyaware MAC operations under dynamic harvesting conditions. Conclusion: This research demonstrates that wake-up radio-based energy-efficient MAC mechanisms can significantly increase the lifetime, reliability, and energy efficiency of WSNs. The validated theoretical and simulation results provide a robust foundation for nextgeneration adaptive MAC protocols suitable for self-sustaining sensor networks in emerging IoT applications.