Distributed power control technique for 802.15.4 wireless sensor networks, based quantitative feedback theory

Abstract

This paper presents a novel, practically implementable, frequency domain solution to the question of robust dynamic power control (PC) for wireless sensor networks. Following the definition of the challenging issues regarding wireless sensor technology, the PC framework is constructed based on tracking a target received signal strength achieving minimal outage probability and transmission power. A systematic design procedure based on quantitative feedback theory is then presented which is intuitively appealing from an engineering perspective. The proposed controller is extensively tested experimentally on a fully complaint 802.15.4 testbed where mobility is introduced using fully autonomous robots. A benchmark comparison is made between this approach and a number of proven strategies.