OFDM-UWB Physical Layer Emulation for Event-Based MAC Simulation

Abstract

Simulation is one possibility to assess the performance of new medium access protocols for wireless communications. While the new algorithms are usually implemented in a very realistic way, the physical layer is emulated as a simple model. Often, this simplification is invalid in complex scenarios, where interference and non line of sight conditions degrade the signal quality. A complete physical layer implementation including the error correction, modulation, channel equalization and different channel pulse responses is not feasible in a layer two simulator. Hence, its characteristic is mapped onto a computational efficient stochastical model. The presented method differs from other error models in the way it is enriched with data to compute the packet error rates: The physical layer under examination, the WiMedia OFDM ultra wideband physical layer, is simulated in a detailed physical simulator and the error rates are derived then using an error analysis