Abstract:

 This paper proposes an analytical model that allows the influence of hidden terminals on the performance
of S-MAC protocol to be assessed. The model is used to analyze the impact of the number of hidden terminals on
the service delay and throughput of the MAC layer. Analysis results show that the more the hidden terminals, the
rapidly the service delay increases. Besides, increasing the number of hidden terminals lowers the load, leading to
early occurrence of the saturation regime and increase of the saturation delay value. Simulation results based on
ns-2 show good agreements with the analytical results, validating accuracy of the model.

Key words: wireless sensor network, S-MAC, hidden terminal