Performance of a frequency hop spread spectrum multiple access radio network in a factory environment

Wireless indoor networks which can provide terminal portability to any node in the network, promise to reduce significantly the expense and troubles of wiring and rewiring associated with wired networks. Since wireless systems operate on bandlimited channels and have to adjust to the constant fluctuations of the indoor environment (i.e., multipath and intermittent fading), any viable wireless technology should be able to accommodate those constraints. A very attractive wireless technology for indoor networks is spread spectrum because of its ability to mitigate multipath fading and incorporate multiple access for bandwidth efficient sharing. A simulated model for a noncoherent FH/BFSK spread spectrum multiple access indoor network in a factory environment is developed. The system is evaluated based on the bit error rate (BER) performance for various chip rates, data rates, and number of hopping frequencies for a given signal to noise plus interference density ratio and the results are compared to theoretical upper and lower bounds.<>