A proportional integral estimator-based clock synchronization protocol for wireless sensor networks

Wenlun Yang; Minyue Fu

doi:10.1016/j.isatra.2017.03.025

A proportional integral estimator-based clock synchronization protocol for wireless sensor networks

ISA Trans. 2017 Nov;71(Pt 1):148-160. doi: 10.1016/j.isatra.2017.03.025. Epub 2017 Apr 12.

Authors

Wenlun Yang¹, Minyue Fu²

Affiliations

¹ College of Control Science and Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Industrial Control Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China. Electronic address: yangwenlun@zju.edu.cn.
² College of Control Science and Engineering and State Key Laboratory of Industrial Control Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China; School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. Electronic address: minyue.fu@newcastle.edu.au.

PMID: 28410748
DOI: 10.1016/j.isatra.2017.03.025

Abstract

Clock synchronization is an issue of vital importance in applications of WSNs. This paper proposes a proportional integral estimator-based protocol (EBP) to achieve clock synchronization for wireless sensor networks. As each local clock skew gradually drifts, synchronization accuracy will decline over time. Compared with existing consensus-based approaches, the proposed synchronization protocol improves synchronization accuracy under time-varying clock skews. Moreover, by restricting synchronization error of clock skew into a relative small quantity, it could reduce periodic re-synchronization frequencies. At last, a pseudo-synchronous implementation for skew compensation is introduced as synchronous protocol is unrealistic in practice. Numerical simulations are shown to illustrate the performance of the proposed protocol.

Keywords: Clock synchronization; Proportional–integral estimator; Wireless sensor networks.