System Level Specifications and Design

This book focuses on the design and implementation of an ultralow-energy communication and localization system. These units are typically needed in wireless sensing nodes, targeting applications like inventory tracking, industrial control, environmental monitoring, telemonitoring of medical data, vehicle tracking and detection, etc. Figure 3.1 shows the main components of these nodes, including the communication/localization unit [Aky02b]. Sensor nodes have to operate on an extremely frugal energy budget [Rou03]. As a result, energy will be a primary objective when designing these systems. This especially holds for the wireless link, which consumes about one-third of the total energy budget [Rab02, Teca].

A good design begins with a solid set of system level specifications. Studying real-life applications of the target design allows to quantify these parameters. Since the low-energy communication and localization platform targets a wide range of application domains, this chapter will set off with discussing two very diverse target applications. From these scenarios, the most critical specifications for a low-energy communication and localization system platform will be derived quantitatively. Because of its flexibility this communication/localization platform can also be deployed in a wide range of other wireless sensing applications.