Elsevier

Ad Hoc Networks

Volume 10, Issue 6, August 2012, Pages 1101-1114
Ad Hoc Networks

A new system for controlled testing of sensor network applications: architecture, prototype and experimental evaluation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adhoc.2012.02.010Get rights and content

Abstract

In this paper we first argue the case for a system which can accurately reproduce sensed input or stimuli for fair evaluation of wireless sensor network applications. It is shown, with a simple example, that consistent input is crucial in the evaluation of applications, and that the lack of such rigor may lead to wrong conclusions, and therefore a biased choice of what seems to be the best application. We present an architecture for a system that utilizes sensor nodes to provide the required stimuli and can exercise control over other sensor nodes that are executing the application under test. In our architecture, each sensor node executing the application under test is paired with a modified sensor node called the control node. We showcase a prototype implementation of the architecture using the MICAz hardware platform and TinyOS operating system software. Evaluation results for the prototype in a network setting are then presented. Our architecture, to the best of our knowledge, is the first to provide the benefits of both hardware-based and software-based approaches to enable controlled testing of sensor network applications. We also provide an optimization formulation for finding the least number of nodes through which control packets can be disseminated to every control node in the network.

Section snippets

Introduction and related work

Sensor network application software needs to achieve acceptable performance while operating with limited energy and other scarce resources available on each node. Application software is usually comprised of a set of algorithms, protocols, data structures, etc. Since there are multiple algorithms and protocols that provide similar functionality, various versions of application software (hereafter referred to as an application) that serve the same purpose but operate differently can be built. To

Motivation

The primary purpose of a wireless sensor network is to collect and process data. We can, therefore, consider the network as a collective computing machine that runs an application A that operates on an input or stimuli I and produces some output O, which can be represented as:A(I)=O

Consider a scenario where we are to evaluate two slightly different applications, say A1 and A2, and pick a winner depending on some property of the output.

Also consider two separate experiments that have been

Proposed architecture

The proposed architecture allows testing sensor network applications by providing stimuli to and allowing control over the operation of each sensor node in the network. The stimuli is provided by another sensor node (hereafter referred to as the control node), which generates the stimuli and routes it and control signals to the sensor node through a wired interface. When testing an application on real hardware, the sensor nodes are usually deployed in a large area to match the desired topology

Prototype

The design goal of building a prototype was to use hardware and software that had open architectures and implement the stimuli system using the fewest and simplest components possible. We built the CSPs using MICAz [15] nodes from Crossbow Technologies Inc. and the open source TinyOS [16] operating system. TinyOS was used to build a simple test application and the software for the control node. A photograph of the prototype highlighting the pins relevant to stimuli generation and routing is

Evaluation

To evaluate the stimuli system, we designed experiments to test the accuracy of stimuli generation and the operation of CSPs as a network. Exp. 1 tests the accuracy of the system in recreating a pre-recorded set of values and Exp. 2 tests the accuracy of generating an arbitrary set of values. Exp. 3 tests the accuracy of the system in recreating values that are read as a stream by the sensor node (such as an accelerometer). To evaluate the control and measurement capabilities, we designed a

Control data dissemination

In this section we first show how the problem of disseminating control packets through the control network is a facility location problem. We then introduce the variables needed to formulate the problem and include an example. Later we introduce the problem objective and constraints and also show solutions for some simple instances of the problem.

Conclusion and future work

In this paper we presented an architecture which pairs two sensor nodes. One node can provide the stimuli and exercise control over the other node which runs the test application. This architecture combines the benefits of using hardware-based stimuli for fidelity and software-based programmability for ease of control.

A prototype implementation of our architecture for generating analog stimuli was also presented. The prototype was evaluated as a networked system, presenting experimental results

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by NSF Award CNS-0626548. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

We would like to thank Jeffrey W. Wildman II, graduate student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Drexel University for his input during the design of the stimuli system. We also extend our thanks to Dr.

Anbu Elancheziyan is a Ph.D. candidate in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University. His research interests include developing architectures for distributed embedded systems and their implementation, simulating network protocols and analysis of large scale networks.

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    Anbu Elancheziyan is a Ph.D. candidate in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University. His research interests include developing architectures for distributed embedded systems and their implementation, simulating network protocols and analysis of large scale networks.

    Jaudelice C. de Oliveira received her Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in May 2003. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University. Her research interests include the development of new protocols that improve the performance of ad hoc, sensor and computer networks.

    Steven Weber (M’03) received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from The University of Texas at Austin in 1999 and 2003 respectively. He joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University in 2003 where he is currently an associate professor. His research interests are centered around mathematical modeling of computer and communication networks, specifically streaming multimedia and ad hoc networks.

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