Title: OCH-MAC: an optimised channel hop MAC protocol with dynamic blacklist for wireless sensor networks

Authors: Vandenberg Borges da Paixão; Renato Mariz de Moraes

Addresses: Centro de Informática, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife-PE, 50.740-560, Brazil ' Centro de Informática, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife-PE, 50.740-560, Brazil

Abstract: This paper presents two sets of algorithms for optimising data exchange from a sensor network's medium access control (MAC) perspective. The optimised channel hopping MAC (OCH-MAC) seeks that, in case of the inoperability of the current communication channel in use, the next chosen channel presents the best conditions of the spectrum because the communicating sensor pair employs a quality scale for each available channel. Accordingly, we propose a dynamic blacklist (D-Blacklist) algorithm, where three factors determine the blocking or unblocking of the channel: the analysis of the previous and current signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SNIR) records, the SNIR levels of the active and neighbouring channels, and the seasonality in the SNIR variations, analysing the current record and comparing it with the recorded minimum and maximum. Results show that these algorithms enhance the reliability of blocking or unblocking the channel and outperform other sensor technologies, such as WirelessHART, ISA100.11a, and IEEE802.15.4e/A-TSCH.

Keywords: channel blacklist; MAC protocols; sensor networks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSNET.2025.150854

International Journal of Sensor Networks, 2025 Vol.49 No.4, pp.239 - 258

Received: 10 Oct 2024
Accepted: 29 Jul 2025
Published online: 24 Dec 2025 *

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