Transmission performance of wireless sensor networks in the presence of co-channel interference

Wireless sensor networks operating in 2.4 GHz ISM band are seriously affected by interference from coexisting radio systems such as IEEE 802.11× wireless local area networks. In this paper, we investigate the transmission performance of wireless sensor networks in the presence of co-channel interference. We first analyze the probability of transmission failure and data throughput associated with transmission schemes in interference environments. The transmission schemes are modeled using a Markov chain taking into account the detection probability of channel sensing detector and the interference channel characteristics. Then, we determine the packet size to maximize the data throughput in the presence of co-channel interference. It is shown that the data throughput and energy consumption are affected by the packet size, data transmission rate, data transmission scheme, detection probability of channel sensing detector, and interference channel characteristics.