Accurate estimation of link quality is the key to enable efficient routing in wireless sensor networks. Current link estimators focus mainly on identifying long-term stable links for routing. They leave out a potentially large set of intermediate links offering significant routing progress. Fine-grained analysis of link qualities reveals that such intermediate links are  bursty , i.e., stable in the short term.   In this paper, we use short-term estimation of wireless links to accurately identify short-term stable periods of transmission on bursty links. Our approach allows a routing protocol to forward packets over bursty links if they offer better routing progress than long-term stable links. We integrate a Short Term Link Estimator and its associated routing strategy with a standard routing protocol for sensor networks. Our evaluation reveals an average of 19% and a maximum of 42% reduction in the overall transmissions when routing over long-range bursty links. Our approach is not tied to any specific routing protocol and integrates seamlessly with existing routing protocols and link estimators.
['Muhammad Hamad Alizai', 'Olaf Landsiedel', 'Jó Ágila Bitsch Link', 'Stefan Götz', 'Klaus Wehrle']
Bursty traffic over bursty links