Energy efficient collaborative communications in AWGN and Rayleigh fading channel in wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Collaborative communication produces high power gain and significantly reduces bit error rate (BER) if both frequency and phase synchronization are achieved. In this paper, a novel collaborative communication system with imperfect phase and frequency synchronization that includes the influence of noise and fading is proposed, modeled, theoretically analyzed, and simulated. Mathematical expressions are derived for the received power as a function of number of collaborative nodes and BER as a function of signal to noise ratio (Eb ∕ N0). To analyze the energy efficiency of our proposed collaborative communication system, energy consumption of the system is modeled, simulated, and analyzed by considering the parameters of the off-the-shelf products. Analytical and simulation results showed that the proposed system produces significant power gain and reduction in BER in the presence of phase errors, frequency errors, additive white Gaussian noise, and Rayleigh fading. A detailed theoretical analysis and Monte Carlo simulation revealed that the proposed collaborative communication system is an energy efficient communication system that can be implemented in sensor networks, as approximately N (number of collaborative nodes) times less total transmitted power is required than for the single input single output communication for a specifies transmission range.