Simulation case studies of wireless networked control systems

Abstract

This paper discusses wireless networking applications in realtime control systems. We present two applications for wireless networked control systems (WiNCS) and compare various performance criteria both from networking and control point-of-view. For this purpose, we have used a unique emulation tool called PiccSIM [7]. PiccSIM, abbreviated from Platform for integrated communications and control design, simulation, implementation and modeling, is a design and evaluation platform for networked control systems, where different networks can be emulated using the real-time extension of the widely known Network simulator (Ns2) [9]. The implemented test models provide a possibility of evaluating the performance of communication protocols in realtime control systems and similarly test robustness and performance properties of control and data fusion algorithms in (wireless) networked environments. We evaluate the performance of routing algorithms in building automation and target tracking test cases. The results indicate that multipath routing can significantly improve robustness and performance in WiNCS.