  We consider a tree network spanning a set of source nodes that generate
measurement packets, a set of additional relay nodes that only forward packets
from the sources, and a data sink. We assume that the paths from the sources to
the sink have bounded hop count. We assume that the nodes use the IEEE 802.15.4
CSMA/CA for medium access control, and that there are no hidden terminals. In
this setting, starting with a set of simple fixed point equations, we derive
sufficient conditions for the tree network to approximately satisfy certain
given QoS targets such as end-to-end delivery probability and delay under a
given rate of generation of measurement packets at the sources (arrival rates
vector). The structures of our sufficient conditions provide insight on the
dependence of the network performance on the arrival rate vector, and the
topological properties of the network. Furthermore, for the special case of
equal arrival rates, default backoff parameters, and for a range of values of
target QoS, we show that among all path-length-bounded trees (spanning a given
set of sources and BS) that meet the sufficient conditions, a shortest path
tree achieves the maximum throughput.
