An Allocation Scheme for IEEE 802.15.4-ZigBee Cluster-tree Networks

The IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee standards support the implementation of cluster-tree networks, which are a suitable topology to deploy wide-scale networks. In this type of topology, an important issue is the configuration of the superframe duration that is allocated to each of the network clusters. In this paper, we propose an allocation scheme for setting up these superframe duration values. The proposed scheme allocates adequate duration values for each cluster coordinator, based on the message load originated from its child nodes (including child coordinators and its descendants). The target of the proposed allocation scheme is to improve the network throughput and to reduce network congestion and dropped messages. Its main advantages are: 1) to have a balanced allocation of network resources to the different clusters; 2) the message generation at the application layer does not need to be synchronised with the beacon arrival; and 3) the message periods do not need to be multiple of the beacon interval.