Simulation and Analysis of a Low–Power Radio Link for Sensor Node Networks

Wireless sensor node networks have the potential to become the next great driver application in the further development of wireless communication systems. Ubiquitous sensor nodes of small size, low cost and low power consumption form the enabling technology behind these future sensor networks. To achieve battery–independent operation through energy scavenging, all components of the system have to be optimized for ultra–low power consumption. This is especially critical for the analog components in the radio subsystem as traditional radios account for a large part of the overall energy budget of a wireless appliance. To asses the performance of a radio link proposed by the PicoRadio RF group at the Berkeley Wireless Research Center, a simulation framework is needed that captures the behavior of the different analog building blocks. This simulation framework is described in detail; the various behavioral models of the analog components are derived and transformed into a baseband equivalent representation ready for simulation. Results of simulation runs are discussed and based on the simulation resutls, a simplified analytical model is developped, which can be used to study the effect of channel fading.