Cross-layer architecture of impulse-based ultra wideband to support the integration of Radio Frequency Identification and wireless sensor network infrastructures

Many research studies have recently proposed the use of Impulse Radio based ultra-wideband technology for passive and active radio frequency identification systems as well as for wireless sensor networks because of its numerous advantages. To harness these advantages at the physical-layer level of design, cross-layer architecture can be used to integrate different wireless short-range requirements into a smart wireless-tagged architecture. Adaptive transmission algorithm has been studied to show the trade-off flexibility between different specific quality of service requirements and transmission rate parameters at the physical-layer level in varied distance scenarios. This type of dynamic optimization and reconfiguration leads to the cross-layer design proposal introduced in this paper. The results of the theoretical and simulated analyses as well as the dedicated experimental design and implementations prove the validity of the proposed architecture.