Effects of RSSI impairments on IEEE 802.15.4 wireless devices performance susceptibility to interference

The effects of interference on IEEE 802.15.4 devices performance are here dealt with, with special regard to the role played by the signal strength indication (RSSI) meter embedded in each device. In particular, attention is paid to some typical RSSI meter impairments, and on their effect on the device susceptibility to external interference. To the purpose, measurements are conducted on a purposely developed testbed enlisting a real IEEE 802.15.4 device. The aim of the work is to gain from experiments helpful notes for network designers showing how RSSI impairments may influence the performance of a IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor network in the presence of interference. In the experiments, single tone signals and additive white Gaussian noise are used as interferers.