Robust wireless sensor network performance analysis

We show that a wireless sensor network system can be designed specifically for a set of complex deployment requirements and constraints. Among the design issues tackled are: low power design which copes with arctic winters and adaptive behaviour to cope with communications breakdowns. These techniques were implemented in a WSN deployment in Iceland in 2008 by the Glacsweb team. This paper shows how this has allowed base stations to survive the winter for the first time. Rather than scaling up the power sources to cope, the systems scale-back their activities, especially communications and dGPS sensing. Similarly instead of overdesigning the radio networks, disconnection periods were managed using large multi-level buffers. The overall success was increased by techniques introduced after the main deployment in 2008. The system is comprised of eight subglacial sensor nodes, connected to a base station on the glacier and a fixed reference station on the mountainside.