Experimental Interference Robustness Evaluation of IEEE 802.15.4-2015 OQPSK-DSSS and SUN-OFDM Physical Layers

In this paper, we experimentally evaluate and compare the robustness against interference of the OQPSK-DSSS (Offset Quadrature Phase Shift Keying - Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum) and the SUN-OFDM (Smart Utility Network - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) physical layers, as defined in the IEEE 802.15.4-2015 standard. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact different types of interference produce on these modulations, in terms of the resulting PDR (Packet Delivery Ratio) and depending on the length of the packet being transmitted. The results show that the SUN-OFDM physical layer provides significant benefits compared to the ubiquitous OQPSK-DSSS in terms of interference robustness, regardless of the interference type and the packet length. Overall, this demonstrates the suitability of choosing the SUN-OFDM physical layer when deploying low-power wireless networks in industrial scenarios, specially taking into consideration the possibility of trading-off robustness and spectrum efficiency depending on the application requirements.