Understanding wireless networked control systems through simulation

The use of computer-based simulation in the developing a thorough understanding of wireless networked control system (NCS) is discussed. A wireless simulator must be capable of modeling the quality of the transmission medium to determine when a frame arrives in error. Many channels models are uncorrelated, such that frames are dropped according to a certain probability distribution but each event is independent. The correlated channel models employed operates at the frame-level to inform the network simulator as to whether a received frame is received in error or not. The MATLAB/Simulink environment allow the control system designer to fully analyze the performance of wireless NCS for industrial monitoring and real-time control of any simulated plant.