Projects:2015s1-40 Flexible ad-hoc Network A: Physical Layer

Introduction

Overview

Project Team

Cong Nguyen

Duncan Lawry

Supervisors

Michael Liebelt

Braden Phillips

Significance

Ad-hoc wireless networks are self-configurable networks with high node mobility, allowing them to function without reliance on any fixed infrastructure. This makes wireless ad-hoc networks useful for quick communication channel deployment suitable for all applications.

While there are already many existing commercial solutions with ad-hoc capability such as ZigBee, Bluetooth Personal Area Network (PAN) and Wi-Fi based ad-hoc configurations (Windows, MacOS, Linux (Debian)) these solutions are generally costly in terms of processing power, memory requirement due to reliance on existing protocol stack or costly in terms of royalty. Furthermore, they are commonly reliant on the ISM 2.4GHz band, making them unsuitable for high-range applications without having to invest on a larger antenna which can increase power requirement and a product's physical size.

This project aims to develop an ad-hoc network stack with low processing power and low memory requirement by developing customized protocol layers operating in ISM sub-1GHz frequency for long communication distance and free usage, while provide high reliability and robustness.

Objectives and Deliverables

This project involves the development of the hardware abstraction layer (HAL), physical layer, link layer and network layer of a wireless ad-hoc network. In usage, data can be provided to the protocols via systems attaching to the protocol stacks or through an application on the microcontroller running the network stack itself.

At the end of this project, the developed ad-network will be flexible in configuration, providing reliable and modest data transfer rate over 100 metres. This means:

1. The network will be self-configuring, independent of external networking infrastructure

2. The network must scale efficiently from 2 to 50 or more nodes

3. The network must work well in both dense and sparse clusters

4. Packet delay should be as low as possible

5. There must be error-checking on multiple levels at the node

6. Node antennas must have a range of over 100 metres.

7. The network must support unicast and multicast operation.

8. Each node should consume as little power as possible

High Level Design

(basically the proposal document and v0.1 SDD)

Layers

Hardware Abstraction Layer

Physical Layer

- Description

- Significance

Link Layer

- Description

- Significance

Network Layer

- Description

- Significance

Packet Format

- Photo/Table of the packet

- Size and limitation of the packet

- Description of each byte in the packet

Detailed Design

- Describe the inner working of each layer, include flowcharts and global/important variables

Development Tools

Software

Code Composer Studio

- TI Compiler version

SmartRF Studio

- Used in RX/TX dBM measurement and RF configuration register generation

- Provide a quick description of how to use this tool for readers

Application Development Guide

Code Explanation

Code walk-through for various layers

Predefined Definitions

What they are for, why they exist, when to use them

Migration Advice

- How to port code from this project to other MCU architectures