Simplified performance estimation of ISM-band, OFDM-based WSNs according to the sensitivity/SINAD parameters

A novel method is proposed to estimate committed information rate (CIR) variations in typical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) wireless local area networks (WLANs) that are applied in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and operate within the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) frequency bands. The method is based on the observation of a phenomenon of which the significance has not previously been recognized nor documented; here termed the service level differential zone (SLDZ). This method, which conforms to the ITU-T Y.1564 test methodology, provides the means to set a committed information rate (CIR) reference for IEEE 802.11a/g/n OFDM systems in terms of committed throughput bandwidth between a test node and an access point (AP) at a specific range. An analytical approach is presented to determine the relationship between the maximum operating range (in metres) of a wireless sensor network for a specific committed throughput bandwidth, and its link budget (in dB). The most significant contributions of this paper are the analytical tools to determine wireless network capabilities, variations and performance in a simplified method, which does not require specialized measurement equipment. With these it becomes possible for industrial technicians and engineers (who are not necessarily information technology (IT) network experts) to field analyze OFDM WLANs and so qualify their performance in terms of Y.1564 specified service level agreement (SLA) requirements, as well as in terms of the widely acceptable sensitivity/SINAD parameters.