Power Characterisation of a Zigbee Wireless Network in a Real Time Monitoring Application Arrian Prince-Pike A thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering (ME) April 2009 School of Engineering Primary Supervisor: Dr John Collins Acknowledgements In completing this research I received help from a number of people. First I must thank my supervisor Dr John Collins for his support, guidance and advice during the course of this investigation. I must also thank AUT technician Achala Perera who provided me with much of the equipment required for the experimental investigation. Finally, thanks to my friends and family for their support during the course of my research. i Attestation of Authorship ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person (except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgements), nor material which to a substantial extent has been submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning’ Arrian Prince-Pike April 2009 ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................................i Attestation of Authorship...........................................................................................................ii Table of Contents..................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures............................................................................................................................v List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... viii List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................ix Abstract......................................................................................................................................x Chapter 1 - Introduction...........................................................................................................12 1.1 Literature Review.....................................................................................................13 1.2 Objectives and Methodology...................................................................................16 Chapter 2 – Zigbee and IEEE 802.15.4 Overview...................................................................18 2.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................18 2.2 IEEE 802.15.4.........................................................................................................18 2.2.1 Device types.....................................................................................................18 2.2.2 Network Topologies.........................................................................................19 2.2.3 Physical Layer..................................................................................................20 2.2.4 Data transport...................................................................................................21 2.2.5 MAC Layer ......................................................................................................21 2.2.5.1 Superframe Structure ...........................................................................................22 2.2.6 Network Reliability..........................................................................................24 2.3 Zigbee ......................................................................................................................25 2.3.1 Software Architecture ......................................................................................25 2.3.2 Node types .......................................................................................................26 2.3.3 Network architecture and topologies ...............................................................27 2.3.4 Network Addressing ........................................................................................29 2.3.5 Network Properties ..........................................................................................30 2.3.5.1 Network Depth.....................................................................................................30 2.3.5.2 Number of Children .............................................................................................30 2.3.5.3 Number of Child Routers.....................................................................................31 2.3.5.4 Beacons................................................................................................................31 2.3.6 Network Formation.................................................................................................31 Chapter 3 - The Simulation Environment................................................................................33 3.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................33 3.2 Zigbee Hardware Research......................................................................................33 3.3 Simulator comparison ..............................................................................................35 3.4 Simulator overview..................................................................................................36 3.4.1 Comments on NS-2..........................................................................................38 3.5 Energy Model...........................................................................................................39 3.6 Zigbee simulation parameters..................................................................................39 3.7 Performance Metrics................................................................................................45 3.8 Simulation process...................................................................................................46 3.9 Initial Simulation Results.........................................................................................50 3.9.1 Beacon Mode ...................................................................................................50 3.9.2 Non Beacon Mode ...........................................................................................56 3.9.3 Comments on Results ......................................................................................57 iii 3.9.4 Trace File Analysis ..........................................................................................58 3.10 Zigbee Simulator Model Modifications...................................................................60 3.10.1 Current Consumption Values................................................................................60 3.10.2 AODV and ARP packets ......................................................................................61 3.11 Results Without AODV and ARP............................................................................64 3.11.1 Beacon Mode ...................................................................................................64 3.11.2 Non Beacon Mode ...........................................................................................70 3.11.3 Comments on Results ......................................................................................71 3.12 Single Node..........................................................................................................72 3.13 State Transitions...................................................................................................72 Chapter 4 – Data Acquisition...................................................................................................74 4.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................74 4.2 Methodology............................................................................................................74 4.3 Equipment................................................................................................................75 4.3.1 Chipcon Development Kit ...............................................................................76 4.3.2 Laboratory Power Supply ................................................................................77 4.3.3 Digital Storage Oscilloscope............................................................................78 4.3.4 Data Acquisition Module.................................................................................78 4.3.5 Zigbee Stack and Firmware .............................................................................79 4.3.6 Delivery ratio application ................................................................................80 4.3.7 MATLAB Software Development...................................................................81 4.4 Experiment Procedure..............................................................................................82 4.4.1 Preparing Equipment for an Experiment .........................................................84 4.4.2 Running the Experiment ..................................................................................85