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Experimental Analysis of Link Estimation Methods in Low Power Wireless Networks

  • Conference paper
Wireless Algorithms, Systems, and Applications (WASA 2011)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 6843))

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks are envisioned to be an integral part of cyber-physical systems, yet wireless networks are inherently dynamic and come with varieties of uncertainties. One such uncertainty is wireless communication itself which assumes complex spatial and temporal dynamics. For dependable and predictable performance, therefore, link estimation has become a basic element of wireless network routing. Several approaches using broadcast beacons and/or unicast MAC feedback have been proposed in the past years, but there still lacks a systematic characterization of the drawbacks and sources of errors in beacon-based link estimation in low-power wireless networks, which leads to ad hoc usage of beacons in routing. Using a testbed of 98 XSM motes (an enhanced version of MICA2 motes), we characterize the negative impact that link layer retransmission and traffic-induced interference have on the accuracy of beacon-based link estimation, and we show that data-driven link estimation and routing achieves higher event reliability (e.g., by up to 18.75%) and transmission efficiency (e.g., by up to a factor of 1.96) than beacon-based approaches. These findings provide solid evidence for the necessity of data-driven link estimation and demonstrate the importance of addressing the drawbacks of beacon-based link estimation when designing protocols for low-power wireless networks of cyber-physical systems.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Wayne State University, USA

    Hongwei Zhang

Authors
  1. Hongwei Zhang
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, 3301 South Dearborn Street, Siegel Hall 320, 60616-3793, Chicago, IL, USA

    Yu Cheng

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, EBII3054, North Carolina State University, Box 7911, 27695-7911, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Do Young Eun

  3. Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology, 2006 Xi Yuan Road, West Hi-Tech District, 611731, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Zhiguang Qin

  4. National Science Foundation, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, 231 Kaufmann Hall, 23529, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Min Song

  5. School of Computer Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology, USTC West Campus, P.O. Box 4, 230027, Hefei, Anhui, China

    Kai Xing

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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Zhang, H. (2011). Experimental Analysis of Link Estimation Methods in Low Power Wireless Networks. In: Cheng, Y., Eun, D.Y., Qin, Z., Song, M., Xing, K. (eds) Wireless Algorithms, Systems, and Applications. WASA 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 6843. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23490-3_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23490-3_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-23489-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-23490-3

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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