Clock synchronization protocol for wireless sensor networks with bounded communication delays

Abstract In this paper, we address the clock synchronization problem for wireless sensor networks. In particular, we consider a wireless sensor network where nodes are equipped with a local clock and communicate in order to achieve a common sense of time. The proposed approach consists of two asynchronous consensus algorithms, the first of which synchronizes the clocks frequency and the second of which synchronizes the clocks offset. This work advances the state of the art by providing robustness against bounded communication delays. A theoretical characterization of the algorithm properties is provided. Simulations and experimental results are presented to corroborate the theoretical findings and show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.