The focus of this book is on performance optimization in Wireless Sensor
Networks (WSNs), aimed at achieving, through proper design of physical
and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers, energy savings and/or increased
throughput. Four scenarios of interest are considered: (i) WSNs for
target detection in surveillance applications; (ii) power allocation
strategies for WSN lifetime maximization; (iii) throughput and lifetime
maximization in clustered WSNs; and (iv) integration of radio control
technology (namely, RFID) in Zigbee WSNs for high energy efficiency. In
each scenario, an analytical model for performance characterization is
presented, together with simulation results. The analytical and
simulation-based performance optimization perspectives provide useful
insights for effective WSN configuration.