Modelling and Emulation of Multifractal Noise in Performance Evaluation of Mesh Networks

This paper describes a model and a setup for emulating fractal and multifractal noise for the measurement and evaluation of performance of ZigBee mesh networks intended for harsh industrial environments in which wire harnesses are to be replaced with mesh networks. The main disadvantages of hard-wired signal and data communications in industrial applications include the difficulty of troubleshooting system faults, and endangering human lives when a harness malfunctions. Most industrial systems involve many sensors to enable system control and monitoring. The need to replace such wire harnesses and to acquire signals from a large number of sensors necessitates a wireless approach with ZigBee mesh networking, where nodes can self-heal and self-form. ZigBee is a short-range wireless networking technology that builds upon the IEEE 802.15.4. It came about in response to industry needs for a standard-based wireless protocol that is low power, low cost, reliable, and interoperable for low data rate industrial control and monitoring applications. In addition to the modelling of noise, this paper also presents an overview of ZigBee in terms of its targeted application spaces, the device types, how mesh networking is supported, as well as the sources and types of interference