Analysis of Threshold-Based Event Detection Algorithms for Wireless Sensor Networks by Fault Injection

Wireless sensor networks are often deployed in harsh environments where they are exposed to extreme conditions. The influences and faults resulting from these conditions are often overlooked. As there are many possibilities for the occurrence of faults, dependability considerations are of high importance. In this work we present an approach for choosing the most adequate parameter set out of a number of qualified parameter sets for an event detection algorithm (EDA). Instead of only considering the performance of the EDA for data that does not contain errors, we analyze the EDA´s reaction to erroneous data by injecting different kinds of faults. In a case study, we show how a seemingly optimal parameter set becomes apparent to be having a weak point. We also show how an application engineer can be provided with feedback about weaknesses of the employed EDA and its parameter set, respectively.