UWB MAC network layer

UWB network for aircraft

The simulation of a sensor network with the use of the IP protocol is constrained by many parameters which are difficult to master. In this context, i worked on physical and MAC discrete layers to show the operation of a wireless sensor network of UWB (Ultra Wide Band). The physical layer and MAC are developed in C/C++ under QualNet, a discrete simulator engine. The advantage of this approach is to achieve physical and MAC layer that can use an existing IP support. The goal is then to simulate a sensor network with spatial configurations, and different sets of parameters.

Simulation with Qualnet

The code of a UWB MAC layer is particularly complex to implement especially in the management of collisions and the retransmission of the packets. Qualnet offers a relatively open and generic API for different structuring. The simulation of the network is quite heavy because the behavior is discrete. For a network of about ten nodes, the simulation time is at least one hour. The results are available at the end of the simulation:

Qualnet simulation results

Energy efficient wireless sensor network architecture for aircraft structure health monitoring: from sensor to data collect
D.DRAGOMIRESCU, F.PERGET, F.CAMPS, R.PLANA, A.DE LUCA, F.UDREA
MINC, IDEA, KTH
International Workshop of Structural Health Monitoring ( IWSHM ) 2013 du 10 septembre au 12 septembre 2013, Stanford (USA), Septembre 2013, pp.1403-1410 , N° 13279