[Tinyos-help] Changing MAC layer in TELOSB motes

[Greg Hackmann]

Romain Berbis wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I am currently working on a project to implement a MAC layer designed 
> for a rescue scenario. I am using TELOSB motes.
> The IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol is already implemented in these motes. Do 
> you know if it is possible to reimplement another MAC protocol in these 
> motes with TinyOS ?
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help !
> 
> Best regards,
> Romain Berbis

The CC2420 radio chip used on the TelosB provides a 802.15.4 PHY layer, 
but it does not include a MAC layer in hardware.  The CC2420 driver in 
TinyOS 2.0.2 includes an optional software MAC layer that's a cross 
between B-MAC and X-MAC.  You can remove it and replace it with your 
own, but that involves doing a little bit of low-level hacking.

If you don't mind using prototype code, our group has developed a 
component-based MAC layer architecture that sounds like a pretty good 
fit for what you're looking to do.  Our SenSys '07 paper describes the 
architecture, and discusses some of the general system issues that are 
involved with supporting new MAC layers in TinyOS:

http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~lu/papers/sensys07.pdf

Greg Hackmann