Implementation and Performance Analysis of a Low Resolution OFDM System Prototype With Low Cost Hardware

The present work focus on the implementation and analyze of performance of a low-resolution OFDM system prototype with low-cost hardware. A software defined radio (SDR) system was chosen in this implementation due to its various advantages over a traditional radio system. Among the options of SDR devices available, the use of universal software radio peripherals (USRP) was avoided due to its high cost, despite its popularity in this field of research. Alternatively, a combination of two low-cost SDRs, "Hackrf One" and "RTL- SDR Blog V3" with the GNU Radio, a popular, free and open source radio software, were used. Thus, it was possible to emulate the behavior of a low resolution ADC in the receiver, characterize its performance and estimate its energy savings. This allowed us to determine the feasibility of building a component with the analog-to-digital conversion function with few bits of resolution. We conclude that the performance of an ADC with at least 5 bits of resolution is pretty reasonable and that this reduction in the number of bits, in comparison to 8-bit ADC, represents a fairly expressive energy saving

Avaliação do protocolo IEEE 802.11g utilizando a plataforma GNU Radio e rádio definido por software

Este trabalho apresenta uma análise do protocolo 802.11g implementado no software GNU Radio e no rádio definido por software LimeSDR. O objetivo desta análise é caracterizar o modelo do protocolo por meio de simulações e descrevê-lo para facilitar seu entendimento e futuras modificações para implementações de outros padrões 802.11. Os métodos de análise são simulações feitas no GNU Radio, deste protocolo e de outra implementação OFDM genérica a fim de comparar resultados. Também foram realizadas transmissões de dados utilizando o LimeSDR e medições com analisador de espectro para que se pudesse descrever ainda mais o funcionamento da integração do código com o hardware. As simulações mostraram resultados esperados com a implementação prática utilizando um sistema OFDM genérico, que foi utilizado como base para validação do hardware. Por sua vez, os resultados foram coerentes e puderam ser observados tanto no LimeSDR quando no analisador de espectro. Ao final são apontados os problemas encontrados e recomendações para a realização de trabalhos futuros.This study consists in an analysis of the 802.11g protocol implemented in the software GNU Radio and the LimeSDR Software Defined Radio. The purpose of this analysis is to characterize the model through simulations and describe it to facilitate its understanding and future modifications to implement other 802.11 standards. The analysis methods are simulations, ran in the software GNU Radio, of this protocol and another generic OFDM implementation in order to compare results. Transmissions of packets were performed using LimeSDR and measured with a spectrum analyzer to further describe the functionality of the code integrated with the hardware. The simulations showed expected results with the practical implementation of the generic OFDM system used as a base for the hardware validation. In turn, these results were consistent and could be observed in both LimeSDR and spectrum analyzer. Finally, some reasons for transmission failures are suggested and it is recommended that further analysis be performed in future works

Enabling wireless closed loop communication : optimal scheduling over IEEE 802.11ah networks

Industry 4.0 is being enabled by a number of new wireless technologies that emerged in the last decade, aiming to ultimately alleviate the need for wires in industrial use cases. However, wireless solutions are still neither as reliable nor as fast as their wired counterparts. Closed loop communication, a representative industrial communication scenario, requires high reliability (over 99%) and hard real-time operation, having very little tolerance for delays. Additionally, connectivity must be provided over an entire industrial side extending across hundreds of meters. IEEE 802.11ah fits this puzzle in terms of data rates and range, but it does not guarantee deterministic communication by default. Its Restricted Access Window (RAW), a new configurable medium access feature, enables flexible scheduling in dense, large-scale networks. However, the standard does not define how to configure RAW. The existing RAW configuration strategies assume uplink traffic only and are dedicated exclusively to sensors nodes. In this article, we present an integer nonlinear programming problem formulation for optimizing RAW configuration in terms of latency in closed loop communication between sensors and actuators, taking into account both uplink and downlink traffic. The model results in less than 1% of missed deadlines without any prior knowledge of the network parameters in heterogeneous time-changing networks

Sub-GHz LPWAN network coexistence, management and virtualization : an overview and open research challenges

The IoT domain is characterized by many applications that require low-bandwidth communications over a long range, at a low cost and at low power. Low power wide area networks (LPWANs) fulfill these requirements by using sub-GHz radio frequencies (typically 433 or 868 MHz) with typical transmission ranges in the order of 1 up to 50 km. As a result, a single base station can cover large areas and can support high numbers of connected devices (> 1000 per base station). Notorious initiatives in this domain are LoRa, Sigfox and the upcoming IEEE 802.11ah (or "HaLow") standard. Although these new technologies have the potential to significantly impact many IoT deployments, the current market is very fragmented and many challenges exists related to deployment, scalability, management and coexistence aspects, making adoption of these technologies difficult for many companies. To remedy this, this paper proposes a conceptual framework to improve the performance of LPWAN networks through in-network optimization, cross-technology coexistence and cooperation and virtualization of management functions. In addition, the paper gives an overview of state of the art solutions and identifies open challenges for each of these aspects

Implementação do protocolo IEEE 802.11ah através de rádio definido por software

O crescente uso de redes conhecidas como Internet das Coisas (IoT) constitui oportunidade para um vasto campo de pesquisa e desenvolvimento, onde diversos protocolos oferecem soluções práticas distintas. Entre estes, o protocolo IEEE 802.11ah é uma alternativa de livre implementação que utiliza uma faixa de espectro não licenciada abaixo de 1 GHz. Este trabalho oferece contribuições para a implementação de técnicas de comunicação adequadas a redes de sensores sem fio (WSN) baseadas no padrão IEEE 802.11ah (Wi-Fi HaLow). De forma a facilitar trabalhos futuros de pesquisa e devido a baixa disponibilidade de dispositivos comerciais, uma plataforma de rádio definido por software foi utilizada para realizar a implementação de um enlace em camada física a partir da especificação do protocolo e de uma implementação pré-existente que comtempla as características de modulação fundamentais do protocolo. Foram conduzidos testes e experimentos de bancada para avaliar o desempenho dos dispositivos, em situações de interferência e ruído. As condições de interferência foram um sinal senoidal, um sinal LoRa e um sinal O-QPSK derivado do protocolo IEEE 802.15.4, uma vez que ocupam a mesma banda de frequências do protocolo avaliado. Também foi avaliada a rejeição a sinais interferente IEEE 802.11ah sobrepostos no mesmo canal, em canal adjacente e em canal não adjacente. As simulações e experimentos geraram um conjunto de dados que foram analisados conforme os requisitos da especificação e da literatura, atendendo o desempenho especificado. Os valores limites para estas interferências são demonstrados em termos de diferenças de potências. O código-fonte será disponibilizado publicamente, para servir de base a trabalhos futuros que tenham por objetivo avaliar o desempenho do protocolo IEEE 802.11ah sob outros aspectos ou provar ideias teóricas inovadoras que, embora propostas e demonstradas de forma simulada, por vezes não encontram comprovação em hardware.The Internet of Things (IoT) environment is an expanding field with many competing standards solving various communication challenges. However, interesting theoretical propositions, demonstrated in simulations during research, end up not getting a quick implementation in hardware. This work provides contributions towards an implementation of the IEEE 802.11ah (Wi-Fi HaLow) standard, an extension of the Wi-Fi protocol focused on providing IoT-like connectivity on midrange sites (up to 1 km). A softwaredefined radio plataform, programmed with open-source software, is used to provide an extensible code base, derived from existing works. Simulation and experimental measurements were conducted towards evaluating the performance and limitations in interference and noise environments. As interference, sinusoidal, LoRa and IEEE 802.15.4 O-QPSK derived signals were used as to evaluate the minimum difference of powers necessary to garantee the IEEE 802.11ah signal is received and correctly decoded with 90 % packet delivery rate. Adjacent, non adjacent and same channel rejection were also evaluated. All results agree with the requirements presented in the standard. We make the source code freely available in the Internet as to enable future modifications and derived works