AH-MAC: Adaptive Hierarchical MAC Protocol for Low-Rate Wireless Sensor Network Applications

Table 2

Main features of AH-MAC, LEACH, and IEEE 802.15.4.

	AH-MAC	LEACH	IEEE 802.15.4
Beacon mode	Yes	No	Yes
TDMA schedule	No	Yes	Yes
Association required	CHs only	All nodes	All nodes
Active time	1 slot	N slot	N slot
Intercluster routing support	Yes	No	Yes
Network size	Unlimited	Limited	Unlimited
ACK support	Yes	No	Yes