ESPAR Antenna-Based WSN Node With DoA Estimation Capability

ESPAR Antenna-Based WSN Node With DoA Estimation Capability

Blog Article

In this paper, we present a low-cost energy-efficient electronically steerable parasitic array radiator (ESPAR) antenna-based wireless sensor network (WSN) node designed for IEEE 802.15.4 standard Womens Tank that is capable of performing direction of arrival (DoA) estimation in real-life outdoor environments.To this end, we propose the WSN node architecture, design and realization that utilizes NXP JN5168 radio frequency (RF) wireless transceiver and a microcontroller integrated with ESPAR antenna beam-switching circuits.To incorporate DoA estimation capability into the developed single-board WSN node, power-pattern cross-correlation (PPCC) algorithm, that relies solely on received signal strength (RSS) values measured by the transceiver at the antenna output King Metal HDBD/FTBD/Rails for every considered directional antenna radiation pattern, has been adapted and implemented in a simple microcontroller embedded within NXP JN5168 integrated circuit.

Measurements conducted in an outdoor environment show that the proposed low-cost WSN node can successfully provide DoA estimation results, which may be used to enhance WSN capabilities in practical applications.The obtained root mean square (RMS) DoA estimation errors are 7.91°, 6.58° and 9.47° for distances between WSN nodes equal to 3 m, 5 m and 10 m respectively.