Frame error rate for single-hop and dual-hop transmissions in 802.15.4 LoWPANs.

IEEE 802.15.4 is a popular standard for personal area networks used in different low-rate short-range applications. This paper examines the error rate performance of 802.15.4 in fading wireless channel. An analytical model is formulated for evaluating frame error rate (FER); first, for direct single-hop transmission between two sensor nodes, and second, for dual-hop (DH) transmission using an in-between relay node. During modeling the transceiver design parameters are chosen according to the specifications set for both the 2.45 GHz and 868/915 MHz bands. We have also developed a simulation test bed for evaluating FER. Some results showed expected trends, such as FER is higher for larger payloads. Other observations are not that intuitive. It is interesting to note that the error rates are significantly higher for the DH case and demands a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) penalty of about 7 dB. Also, the FER shoots from zero to one within a very small range of SNR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]