Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks: Channel Modeling and Performance Evaluation

A complete dynamic wideband channel model for industrial wireless sensor network is presented. The model takes into account the noise, interferences, and heavy multipath propagation effects present in harsh industrial environments. A first-order two-state Markov process is adopted to describe the typical bursty nature of the impulsive noise usually present in industrial environments. The interference effects are modeled as multiple narrowband signals operating on the same frequency band as the desired signal. The multipath propagation is described by assuming the scatterers to be uniformly distributed in space within an elliptical region where the transmitting and receiving nodes are located at the foci of the ellipse. Furthermore, performance evaluations of IEEE 802.15.4 in terms of bit error rate using the developed channel model are presented. The results show that in addition to spread spectrum techniques, link diversity can further improve the link quality in harsh industrial environments.