Performance of Common Signaling Mode for Multi-PHY Management in Smart Utility Networks

This paper presents the performance evaluation of a common signal employed to enable coexistence between heterogeneous physical (PHY) layer designs in the Smart Utility Networks (SUNs). The coexistence mechanism, known as Multi-PHY Management (MPM) uses a common PHY signaling specification known as the Common Signaling Mode (CSM) to facilitate interference avoidance/mitigation among the three specified alternative PHYs in the on-going industrial standardization for SUN, namely the IEEE 802.15.4g. The CSM is a signaling design commonly supported by all three PHYs in the 802.15.4g. In this paper, we have analyzed the performance of the CSM from the perspectives of receiver type, likelihood of detection and achievable range. The effectiveness of CSM is an essential factor for the performance of MPM. It is found that by using a correlator receiver, the likelihood of detecting the CSM is typically 20-25dB better than an energy detection receiver. The achievable transmission range of the CSM is 90m with a correlator receiver and is decreased to 30m with an energy detector.