BER and power consumption estimation based on hierarchical modeling of a 2.4 GHz power amplifier

This paper presents a power consumption estimation methodology for wireless devices, consisting in hierarchical modeling of specific AMS-RF IP (Intellectual Properties). It provides accurate energy consumption models for specific devices, based on simulations and/or analytical expressions extraction. Thus, within a unified simulation environment, full system´s characteristics such as BER (bit-error rate), PER (packet-error rate) and DC power consumption can be evaluated in terms of block specifications (in this case, the RF power amplifier). It can be seen that the platform provides realistic accuracy with minimal electrical information, while maintaining acceptable simulation times. Also, the co-simulation advantages and drawbacks of coupling these power consumption models with network analysis are discussed.