A Flexible Approach to WSN Deployment

A flexible wireless sensor network platform for easier implementation of diverse applications has been developed and deployed at the Institute Superior Tecnico - Technical University of Lisbon (IST-TUL). This test-bed integrates multiple projects into a single common network, thus creating an expandable platform that facilitates the development of future applications. To achieve this flexibility, a dedicated software framework was developed that not only provides a centralized configuration panel that is accessible over the Internet, allowing the administrator to configure common network parameters, but also supports application programmability, enabling fine-grained control of in-network sensing, processing, and actuation. On top of this platform, three initial applications have been developed and are currently coexisting within the same network, thus demonstrating the new platform´s capabilities. The paper discusses the main issues related with the test-bed architecture and the development of an environmental interaction application, with an illustrative purpose, along with the deployment challenges. Results of the experimental evaluation of the test-bed are also shown, focusing on the performance of the environmental interaction application´s in-network processing system. A particularly relevant result is denoted by the minimum time the network needs to complete its processing tasks (approximately 200 ms in our test topology).