An Hardware-In-the-Design Methodology for Wireless Sensor Networks based on Event-Driven Impulse Radio Ultra-Wide Band

This paper conceptualizes and comments an Hardware-In-the-Loop-based methodology for the design and test of wireless links based on Impulse-Radio UWB. The paper analyses standard HDL simulation EDA tools for interfacing compatibility with the physical peripherals in a generic HIL configuration to define a general Hardware-In-the-Design methodology, i.e. the HIL validation in the first steps of a standard design flow. Our concept has been compared with AMS-HDL models and standard simulation flows and with real-time simulations on a flexible platform (e.g. FPGA). The design methodology is applied to a Wireless Sensor Network design based on event-driven IR-UWB (one-way node-to-node communication). Advantages of the introduced HIDF technique compared to standard design flows are presented and discussed.