MIMO System Implementation for WSN Using Xilinx Tools

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks are one of the most rapidly evolving research and development fields for microelectronics. Their applications are countless, and the market potentials are huge. However, many technical hurdles have to be overcome to achieve a widespread diffusion of wireless sensor network technology [1]. This work presents the design and FPGA hardware implementation of a MultipleInput/Multiple-Output (MIMO) system for Wireless Sensors Networks (WSN). This system will offer more parallel channels between the sensor nodes and the base station at the same frequency band, thereby increasing spectral efficiency. The hardware design of the MIMO wireless sensor network system has been described using VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language). The design has been simulated and synthesized using Xilinx ISE 10.1i software tools, then tested in hardware level using Xilinx FPGA. The design offers remote monitoring system with MIMO wireless sensor network. Sensor networks differ from traditional networks in several ways, sensor networks have severe energy constraints, redundant low data rate, and many-to-one flows. The end-to-end routing schemes that have been proposed in the literature for mobile ad-hoc networks are not appropriate under these settings [2]. A wireless sensor network has important applications such as remote environmental monitoring and target tracking. This has been enabled by the availability, particularly in recent years, of sensors that are smaller, cheaper, and intelligent. These sensors are equipped with wireless interfaces with which they can communicate with one another to form a network. The design of a WSN depends significantly on the application, and it must consider factors such as the environment, the application’s design objectives, cost, hardware, and system constraints [3]. WSNs have great potential for many applications in scenarios such as military target tracking and surveillance [4, 5], natural disaster relief [6], biomedical health monitoring [7, 8], and hazardous environment exploration and seismic sensing [9]. Mobile Ad-Hoc and Wireless Networks Evolving Mobile Network concept known as Multiple-Input/Multiple –Output, which has the potential to increase communications data rates by 10-20 times above current systems data rates. Such systems can use reprogrammable logic circuits, specifically Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), which offers a cost effective and high performance hardware alternative to Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) in low and mid volume products. Furthermore, FPGAs are