Communication protocols and techniques are often evaluated using simulation
techniques. However, the use of formal modeling and analysis techniques for
verification and evaluation in particular for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN)
becomes a necessity. In this paper we present a formal analysis of the backoff
procedure integrated in the medium access control protocol named ECo-MAC
designed for WSN. We describe this backoff procedure in terms of discrete time
Markov chains (DTMCs) and evaluated using the well known probabilistic model
checker PRISM.