Error-Rate Performance Analysis of Wireless Sensor Networks over Fading Channels

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the bit-error-rate (BER) performance of wireless sensor networks. A wireless sensor node with a single transmitter antenna and multiple receiver antennas is considered here. We consider M (M ? 1) receiver antennas to mitigate channel fading effects. BER performance is analyzed in the presence of a co-channel interference source. Wireless channel is assumed to follow independently Nakagami fading for the wireless sensor network and Rayleigh fading for the interference signal. Based on the derived analytical expressions, the effects of different fading channel and co-channel interference parameters on the BER performance of wireless sensor networks are assessed.