Optimum power level for communications with interference

As part of the CHIST-ERA E-CROPS Project we analyze the appropriate choice of transmission power in a collection of identical electronic systems that process and transmit data over a common channel, in the presence of noise and interference. Our analysis shows that, depending on whether the receiver or the sender is used to mitigate for errors, the power level will influence the energy consumption per bit via both the power and the effective transmission time, since transmission power is a source of interference and hence of errors. The analysis is carried out for receiver controlled retransmission requests when errors are sensed, and also for a scheme where the sender uses carrier sensing to infer the likelihood of a transmission error. The issue is also discussed for wired digital system where crosstalk is the source of interference.