An Energy-Efficient Communication Scheme for Wireless Networks: A Redundant Radix-Based Approach

We propose a redundant radix based number (RBN) representation for encoding and transmitting data for applications which typically utilize low cost devices and demand low power operations with simple modulation techniques like ASK, OOK and FSK. Coupled with silent periods for communicating the digit zero, this encoded communication scheme, called as RBNSiZeComm, provides a highly energy-efficient technique for data transmission. Considering an n-bit data representation and assuming that each of the 2n binary strings is equally likely to occur, theoretically obtainable fraction of energy savings by using our proposed RBNSiZeComm transmission protocol is, on an average, 1 - n+2/4n. A hybrid modulation scheme using FSK and ASK with non-coherent detection based receiver for the RBNSiZeComm protocol has been presented. Assuming equal likelihood of all possible binary strings of a given length, there is nearly 53% savings in energy on an average at the transmitter relative to binary FSK, over additive white gaussian noise (AWGN) channels. Simulation results demonstrate that compared to binary FSK, our proposed implementation can extend the battery life of devices from about 33% to 62% on an average in applications like remote healthcare and wireless sensor networks for agriculture.