14.3.8.3 Data Interpretation

The reason for a low LQI value can be twofold: a low signal strength and/or high signal distortions, for example by interference and/or multipath propagation. High LQI values, however, indicate a sufficient signal strength and low signal distortions.

Note:
  1. The LQI value is almost always 255 for scenarios with very low signal distortions and a signal strength much greater than the sensitivity level. In this case, the packet error rate tends towards zero and increase of the signal strength, that is by increasing the transmission power, cannot decrease the error rate any further. Received signal strength indication (RSSI) or energy detection (ED) can be used to evaluate the signal strength and the link margin.
  2. The received signal power as indicated by received signal strength indication (RSSI) value or energy detection (ED) value of the AT86RF212B do not characterize the signal quality and the ability to decode a signal.

ZigBee networks often require identification of the “best” routing between two nodes. LQI and RSSI/ED can be applied, depending on the optimization criteria. If a low frame error rate (corresponding to a high throughput) is the optimization criteria, then the LQI value should be taken into consideration. If, however, the target is a low transmission power, then the RSSI/ED value is also helpful.

Various combinations of LQI and RSSI/ED are possible for routing decisions. As a rule of thumb, information on RSSI/ED is useful in order to differentiate between links with high LQI values. However, transmission links with low LQI values should be discarded for routing decisions, even if the RSSI/ED values are high, since it is merely an information about the received signal strength, whereas the source can be an interferer.