Enabling Efficient System Configurations for Dynamic Wireless Applications Using System Scenarios

Abstract

Next generation mobile wireless systems (4G) support a wide range of communication protocols and services, thus opening new design challenges. The desired flexibility requires an effective utilization of system resources. In this article, we introduce the concept of system scenarios in wireless baseband engine signal processing optimization and in digital front-end power optimization. The scenario methodology classifies the system behavior from a cost perspective and provides the necessary information for an effective system tuning. We propose improvements for the clustering of the system executions into scenarios and the detection of scenarios at run time achieving a better trade-off between cost estimation accuracy and detection overhead. The first case study of the paper, using the WLAN communication protocol, demonstrates the accurate prediction of the execution time of each block of bits, which on average is 92 % shorter than the worst case allowing us to use the remaining time for the optimization of specifications like power consumption. In the second case study, we concentrate on the efficient signal power management during a WLAN transmission reducing the total energy consumption 50–94 % based on the throughput utilization.