Channel Surfing: Defending Wireless Sensor Networks from Interference

Wireless sensor networks are susceptible to interference that can disrupt sensor communication. In order to cope with this disruption, we explore channel surfing, whereby the sensor nodes adapt their channel assignments to restore network connectivity in the presence of interference. We explore two different approaches to channel surfing: coordinated channel switching, where the entire sensor network adjusts its channel; and spectral multiplexing, where nodes in a jammed region switch channels while nodes on the boundary of a jammed region act as radio relays between different spectral zones. For spectral multiplexing, we have devised both synchronous and asynchronous strategies to facilitate the spectral scheduling needed to improve network fidelity when sensor nodes operate on multiple channels. In designing these algorithms, we have taken a system-oriented approach that has focused on exploring actual implementation issues under realistic network settings. We have implemented these proposed methods on a testbed of 30 Mica2 sensor nodes, and the experimental results show that these strategies can each repair network connectivity in the presence of interference without introducing significant overhead.